A Kindred Spirit
by Rinne-Kami
Summary: Lucy was only in the store to find a new key, she had no idea that she would be meeting a fellow Spirit Mage, blessed with the rarest summoning style she had ever seen. Shēngxiào Entity Summoning, but what is this new ability she has discovered.
1. A New Form Of Spirit Summoning

"I've never even heard of what your asking for, Platinum Summon Discs. Are you sure you're not just trying to waste my time?" The aged shop keep stared questioningly at the blond man in front of him. He was a young age with bright blond spiky hair standing on edge, apart from two longer bangs framing the sides of his face and six more covering his forehead. His long black cloak was making him suspicious the most, obscuring his hands from view. Underneath the black coat was a white shirt unbuttoned all the way down until it tucked into his black pants, revealing another grey shirt with a cross underneath. On his feet were a pair of black steel-toed shoes and a black messenger bag was hanging loosely from his shoulder. His bright blue eyes were set in a disappointed manner. Staring at the merchandise at the counter.

"Darn, are you absolutely sure you have no idea where any of them can be found?" He asked again, staring back at the old merchant.

The old merchant now wished he had taken back his words, the boy seemed genuinely disappointed about not being able to find one of these discs. "I am sorry, my boy. But I honestly don't have a clue what you are talking about."

"I see." The boy replied disheartened. "Listen, can you let me know if you here anything?" He rummaged around in his pocket before pulling out a small blue orb. Handing it over to the man. "It's a Communication Lacrima, it doesn't do much, just cup it in between both your hands and squeeze it tightly, when you open your hands it should work."

The old merchant smiled, taking the small crystal from the boy's hand. "Of course my boy. I'm sorry I wasn't able to help you. But can I take your name, in case I do hear anything?"

"It's alright. And my name is Naruto Namikaze." The boy flashed a wide grin showing both sets of teeth. "I'm sorry I took up so much of your time. I guess I should look around the rest of your store now." He laughed, as did the merchant, before he moved into the weapon stands, perusing the many items on offer.

He looked through every organisation of weapon, spears, partisans, longswords, shortswords, scimitars, knives, daggers. He heard the sound of the bell over the door ringing, indicating another customer, he chose to ignore it, carrying on looking through the weapons.

"These are interesting." The blond boy stopped, picking up to big swords, very thick in size but short in length only being about two and a half feet long with a curved point at the end. "Wiin might enjoy these."

He looked at the price, 250'000J, each. Naruto whistled quietly at the price, luckily he came prepared, he had bartered before in order to get the discs, so every time he went into a magic chop, he had grown accustomed to carrying 2'000'000J in his bag. Taking the two weapons he carried them over to the counter and merchant, who was now currently trying to be seduced by a girl around his own age with blond hair a different shade than his own, a lump of it tied into a ponytail of the top right side of her head. She was wearing a white shirt with a blue cross design and a blue skirt in similar colour and had thigh high black boots. Around her waist was an brown belt, Naruto just managing to see the tips of keys tied onto the belt and a black whip with a heart shaped point on a holster.

Naruto stood behind her patiently as she tried to use her sex appeal to have the prices lowered. The merchant himself stood defiant.

"Can I just pay for these?" Naruto snuck to the left of her, the old man nodded weakly, catching a break from the flirting blond teen. Taking the blades to the back in order to find the sheaths.

"You know it's rude to cut in." The blond girl looked to him with an annoyed pout, crossing her arms over her chest.

"Sorry, but it seemed like I might have been here all day if I didn't." Naruto replied with a nervous chuckle, scratching the back of his head, the girl had big brown eyes that bore into him.

"Well it was still rude." The girl huffed, turning away from him.

Naruto was never one to like it when people disliked him, especially girls, glancing over to where she was, he looked around the merchandise under the glass barrier. "So what are you after?" He asked, trying to make conversation whilst the merchant had disappeared, probably taking his sweet time collecting the sheaths in order to get away from the girl.

The girl pointed towards the silver key on a blue cushion. "So you're after Nikora, the Canis Minor. Interesting. There's quite a few of them."

The girl's head whipped around surprised. "You know about Celestial Spirits?" She asked in genuine surprise.

"Yeah I do. Well enough to know that 20'000J is a bit of a steep price for Nikora." Naruto laughed, rummaging through his bag, he pulled out a good 10'000J, handing it over to her. "Here." He grabbed her hand and placed it in her hand, closing her hand around the money himself.

"What are you doing? I can't accept this." Suddenly her eyes widened in realisation. "Don't you think that I'm that type of girl just because of what's happening here." Her brow narrowed to a furious stare, aiming to boil Naruto's head off his shoulders with her stare.

A bullet of sweat dropped from Naruto's forehead. "I didn't think that at all. I just don't like carrying around loads of money when I don't need it. So when I don't need it I just tend to give it away."

"And how much are you carrying on you now?" The girl replied, clutching the money a bit more tighter now.

"Taking away the 500'000J I just spent on the weapons and the 10'000J I just gave to you, around 1'490'000J." He smiled the widest of smiles. Ignoring the look of shock on her face.

"And you're just planning to give that all away. Why don't you just keep it?" She asked incredulously, staring at his bag which currently held all that money.

"I don't like carrying around large sums of money when I don't need it. You get all paranoid about it, thinking your missing some, so it's more likely to get lost." He continued grinning widely.

"Then why don't you just put it in a bank?"

Naruto's grin faded instantly, eyes widening in confusion. Before he shrugged impassively. "I can always make more money, I try not to be too greedy." He smiled again. The merchant returned with the two sheathed blades, placing the money on the table with an added tip Naruto took the blades, hoisting them over his shoulders by the straps.

"Well it was nice meeting you." Naruto smiled at both the old merchant and the girl. Giving a quick wave before he walked out of the small shop.

_'Right so where to now. That was my only lead. Maybe Elife can help me, but she refuses to talk about the location of any of the discs. I guess I have no choice but to keeping listening to rumours.'_ Naruto thought with a smile on his face._ 'One of them's bound to be right eventually.'_

* * *

><p>"Wait!" Naruto heard someone call, turning around, he found the girl from the magic store running towards him, he stopped so she could catch up to him, gesturing her to catch her breath before she said anything.<p>

"I never got a chance to thank you." The girl spoke with a light pant, pointing at the shiny silver key at her waist.

"So you managed to by it then." Naruto smiled at her, receiving a smile in return from the girl.

"Yeah, he gave me a 1'000J discount, but thanks to you I managed to save 10'000J. That's really gonna help me later on, so thanks a bunch!" The girl smiled widely at him again, a thin red blush appearing on her face. "My name is Lucy Heartfilia by the way."

"Lucy, my name is Naruto Namikaze." Naruto introduced himself with a smile.

"So what guild are you in, Naruto?" Lucy asked him in interested, now walking alongside him.

"Guild?" Naruto replied in confusion, what made her think he was in a guild.

"You know, you have so much money, I figured you must be in a guild when jobs come rolling in for you to save up that much money. I'm looking to join a guild myself, I had my eyes set on one in particular, but it might be better to join one where I know at least one person." She laughed heartily.

Naruto himself gave off a quiet chuckle. "I'm sorry to disappoint Lucy, but I'm not in a guild. I'm a wandering mage, I go from town to town and perform jobs that people don't want to pay the extra added cost of hiring a guild to do it."

"Guilds have added costs when they take jobs?" Lucy sounded surprised, she had never heard of such a thing.

Naruto nodded in return. "Yep, for example, say a job gives a reward of 1'000'000J. The real cost of the job is about 750'000J, you have to pay extra in order to hire a guild, the main sum goes to the mage who performs the job, but the extra cost goes to the guild itself. It's very fair really, as it is the guild's manpower, they pay for the mage if they destroy stuff, but it's usually around 25% of the original sum, and some people don't have that extra cash to pay out."

"Wow, you sure know a lot about stuff, Naruto-san." Lucy looked at him mesmerised. He was smart and kind. "So do you enjoy travelling around all the time?"

"Absolutely!" Naruto grinned widely at her. "You get to experience so much, and the danger around every corner, keeps you on edge all the time, it's really exciting!"

"The danger bit put me off a tad." A blob of sweat dropped from Lucy's face, looking disbelievingly.

"So anyway, if you were after Nikora, you must be a spirit mage, yes?" The blond boy asked her. "What ones have you got so far?"

"Well I have three gold keys and now I have three silver keys." Lucy didn't want to give too much away so easily. "What about yourself? You must be a mage if you were in a store like that."

The blond boy continued smiling, something Lucy was beginning to think he wasn't able to stop doing. "I'm kind of like a Celestial Spirit Mage myself." He chuckled lightly.

"Really? Well what keys do you have?" Lucy was now very interested, she hadn't met another spirit mage besides her mom.

"I don't use keys." Naruto smiled again, Lucy looked at him confused, a Celestial Spirit Mage that didn't use keys. "I don't look for the Celestial Spirits of the Keys. My form of of spirit summoning is something else. _**Shēngxiào Entity Summoning**_, it doesn't use the constellations as the spirits but uses the Zodiacs of a lost period, someone once described it as a Lost Magic, but its so similar to Celestial Spirit Summoning that I've never thought of it like that myself!" Naruto laughed loudly once again.

_**'Shēngxiào Entity Summoning.**__ What in the world is that? I've never even heard of such a thing.'_ Lucy wondered perplexed. It sounded as if he was making it up.

"Will you show me this magic, I'd like to try my own spirits against it." Lucy asked the blond in front of her.

Naruto's brow rose in slight surprise. "Sure, I got time. But it might be best if we get out of town. Things can get kind of messy."

* * *

><p>"Here will be good enough." Naruto had lead her to a remote part of the forest, a healthy green filled her vision all around her, a small stream sparkled from the light, trickling down the hillside, yellow and pink flowers grew here and there. All in all, it was beautiful.<p>

Naruto moved to the other side of the small clearance. "Right, Lucy. Whenever you're ready." Naruto smiled again.

Lucy herself smiled. Drawing out one of her gold keys. "_**O spirit, he me now as I call thee. Open the gate of the Golden Bull, Taurus!**_" Lucy swiped the golden key through the air, twisting the key, a bright light enveloped the area,

"Lucy! Aren't I glad that we agreed on more summoning days! Now I can see moore of that sexy body each week!" A massive white bull with black spots appeared, where nought but a black speedo and a belt with a buckle in the shape of a bull's head and bandages wrapped around his wrists leading into brown gloves. He also had a golden ring in his nose and a bell on his neck. The massive bull had an equally enormous dual bladed battle axe tied to it's back. The bull spotted Naruto standing from across the field, eyeing him up angrily. "Lucy, who's this mooron?"

"We're going to be fighting him, Taurus, so I need your strength." Lucy gave the bull a wink.

Love hearts appeared in his eyes, mooing incomprehensively loudly. "Of course, Lucy! Anything for that sexy body!" Taurus yelled loudly, before adopting a more serious battle expression, drawing his large axe out, gripping it tightly with his two hands.

Naruto flicked his coat upwards, Lucy now saw that his belt had a small bag tied to it, as well as a gun holster. Naruto reached for the gun, everything about it was golden, shining brightly with the sun. Lucy couldn't tell if it was just painted or actually made of solid gold. "What's that, I thought you used spirits?" She asked inquisitively.

"I do. This is my _**Contract Gun**_. It has a similar use to your keys." Naruto explained, he drew a small disc from the black bag strapped to his belt. "_**Load Platinum Disc.**_" Naruto spoke, he flicked a small switch, the barrel of the gun spilt in half opening up, Naruto swiped the disc into the gun and closed the barrel up again, cocking the gone. "_**Summon: First Year Zishi: Leiru the Rat!**_" Naruto called, pointing the gun in her direction, he pulled the trigger, similar to her key, a bright white light appeared from it.

"Naruto, it's been a while since you've called me for something." Lucy almost squealed in disgust. A rat, going up to the height of Naruto's mid thigh appeared. He was in a lack of better words fat, wearing a black suit with the blazer unbuttoned, revealing a white shirt. Around his neck was a red tie with black polka dots. All of his other features were rat like, with a long muzzle topped with a black nose, a long scrawny tail. He appeared with a sly smirk on his face, as if he knew all of her most embarrassing secrets. "So what can I do for you Naruto?" His voice was slightly nasally, but was also slightly deep. The rat turned to see Taurus gripping the massive battle axe tightly.

The rat turned back to Naruto. "You intend to have me fight don't you?" He instantly began complaining. "You know I'm not suited for battle orientation. If you intend to make me fight, I will tell Riegin about this."

"Oh come on!" Naruto whined in return, squatting down to the rat's level. "Just this one time, please."

"No. Now send me back or I will tell Riegin." Leiru retorted in defiance, Lucy was quite astounded, Naruto was such good terms with his spirits that they could even refuse to fight for him, or he was just a really lousy summoner.

"You such a rat, Leiru!" Naruto insulted the smaller spirit. Who only smirked victoriously.

"I know. It's my job to rat on people. Now send me back." The rat ordered Naruto.

"Fine." Naruto sighed in annoyance, swiping his hand through the air, Leiru's entire body began rippling as he slowly faded away again.

Naruto flicked the barrel back open, taking the platinum disc back out. "Sorry about this Lucy." He apologised, placing the disc back in the small pouch and bringing out an entirely new one. "_**Load Platinum Disc.**_" He spoke again, loading the new disc into the gun. "_**Summon: Third Year Yinshi: Wiin the Tiger!**_"

A huge muscular spirit appeared, only a few inches shorter than Taurus. He was a man/tiger hybrid. Completely yellow in colour save for the darker brown patches on his shoulder face and big tail. The tiger had a long yellow mane jutting behind him like spikes, held back by a white headband tucking behind his pointed ears. His eyes were hard, staring intently at Taurus in front of him. The tigers muscular chest was exposed, an open brown jacket was worn for upper body clothing, the sleeves seemingly torn off. On his legs he wore a similar brown pants, the ends torn off and strapped down by dark yellow circular bands. Over that he wore a orange cloth, held onto his body by a large black belt. His feet were large with claws at the end with the same brown coloured material padding the arches of his feet. Half of his feet, his shins and all of his forearms including hands were wrapped in bandages.

"Gold key Taurus. We meet again." The tiger smirked at the larger bull in front of him. Ignoring the existence of his caller for a moment. He flexed his fingers aggressively, the bones clicking loudly.

"Platinum Disc Wiin, I had no idea I would be seeing you again." Taurus replied, all silliness that he had ever shown seemed to disappear as soon as the tiger appeared.

"Wait, you two know each other?" Lucy asked confused, she had never seen this Wiin before.

"He is a previous combatant against myself." Taurus explained. "Long before I met your sexy body. I had a fight against Wiin. Which I won moost impressively."

"Yes, Taurus was contracted to the physically strongest man in the world. When my owner fought against him I couldn't compare. But times have changed, now I feel so much stronger." Wiin grinned widely, flashing all of his sharp teeth.

"Oh wait." Naruto called, shifting the two swords from his shoulder, he passed them to Wiin. "Here, I bought these for you, I thought you might like them."

"Thank you, Naruto." Wiin bowed his head respectively, strapping the two swords so their sheaths crossed over behind him. "But I will not be using them in this fight, otherwise I can not know if I am truly stronger than Taurus."

"Then shall we begin." Taurus shifted his weight, gripping the axe as hard as he could.

Smirking, Wiin lunged forwards, in an instant he was in front of Taurus. _'Fast!'_ Lucy and Taurus thought together.

Out of his fingers grew longer thick claws. He slashed them furiously across Taurus' chest, Wiin landed with his palm touching the ground, he leg exploded into the recently attack chest of Taurus, blasting him into a nearby rock. The stone crumbling under the huge impact.

_'And strong as well!'_ Lucy stared at Taurus' near unconscious form, with just two attacks Wiin took down the massive bull, and he did it with ease.

"Taurus, you are not as strong as you used to be," Wiin looked disappointed at Taurus. "The strength of the spirit rivals the strength of the owner. Naruto is by far one of the strongest people I have ever known. Make sure your owner trains herself as well. I will fight you when you are of a higher form." Even Wiin's very words were powerful.

"Lucy, I must go back now. I have never felt moore ashamed of myself. Am I unable to protect your sexy body?" The injured Taurus asked himself as he dispersed back to the spirit world.

"Naruto, I take my leave as well." Wiin gave another bow of the head before dispersing in a similar manner to Leiru earlier.

Naruto opened the barrel again, taking the disc back out the barrel before snapping it shut, placing the gun back in it's holster. He approached the disheartened Lucy carefully. "Lucy, are you okay?"

"Yeah, I'm fine." Lucy gave something Naruto could notice a mile away, a fake smile. _'Is it true, is Taurus weaker because I am not strong?'_ Lucy asked herself, Wiin's words hurt Taurus, she could tell, but the words hurt her more. "Let's go back and get some food." She suggested.

Naruto, not wanting to hurt her further, agreed without hesitation, both making there way back to the port town.

* * *

><p>The two mages made their way through the streets in silence, both unsure of what to say.<p>

"So, those discs. That is a very interesting form of summoning." Lucy spoke quietly finally breaking the tension and silence.

Naruto's eyes widened slightly, rummaging through the small pouch he drew one disc. Upon closer inspection Lucy now saw that on one side of the disc there was a black and white picture of a tiger, on the other side there was a symbol she could only assume meant Tiger, slightly indented into the metal of the disc. "These are the 12 Platinum discs, the rarest of all _**Entity Summoning**_ discs. Actually, apparently these twelve are the only discs for _**Entity Summoning**_. I've never found another type." Naruto explained, putting the disc back into the small pouch on his waist.

"So how many do you own?" Lucy asked with slight more interest now, but was still very disheartened.

"Only four." Naruto sighed in disappointment. "The really hard to find. And Wiin is the only one I own that is specifically battle oriented and will listen to me completely."

"I see." Lucy was about to continue when they were interrupted by squealing girls rushing passed them, screaming something about the Salamander being in town.

_'Salamander?'_ Lucy thought confused until her mind clicked. "Salamander of Fairy Tail, he's the only one with that name! He's in town, I've never seen his face before. But there's so many stories about him in sorcerer's magazine!" Lucy had now regained her happiness, darting off in the direction all the women were going.

A left behind Naruto sighed before jogging after Lucy, something didn't seem right about all this.

Following Lucy through every twist and turn of the streets he eventually found her among a group of girls clamouring around he could only assume was the Salamander. The girls had all been silenced, staring at a pink haired boy with a blue cat. The boy was suddenly punched out of the crowd by the women, knocking him flying.

Naruto approached the crowd, making his way through, he found a man with blue hair and tattoo on his face, a familiar face. "I know you. You're not the Salamander, you're-"

"Well I have to take my leave now!" He was cut off by the 'Salamander'. Who flew up into the air with purple magic, but not without giving a court wink at Lucy in particular. "I hope you all consider my offer of joining me for a party on my boat at the port!" He laughed as he flew into the sky.

Lucy began retching in disgust. "I can't believe I was fooled by _**Charms magic**_!" She continued retching as the crowd dispersed. "As soon as you said he wasn't the Salamander it wore off on me, the other girls must not be mages to notice or something."

"Come on, Lucy." Naruto dragged her by the hand, leading her in the direction of where the pink haired boy went. "I need to find something out!"

* * *

><p>Naruto had dragged her along to find a pink haired boy and his blue cat. Inviting them all to a meal, they sat whilst the rosy haired boy devoured all the food placed in front of him.<p>

"So how did you know he wasn't the real Salamander?" Naruto asked the boy as he wolfed down food.

"Because I am looking for a Salamander, well he's not a Salamander. He's a dragon by the name of Igneel. Do you know him?" The Blue Cat, Happy translated the words mumbled by the rosy haired Natsu as he spoke with a mouth full of food.

"Why would a Dragon be in town?" Lucy spoke astounded, this guy was weird.

"Just a rumour I heard." Happy translated again.

"Lucy," She turned when Naruto called her. "That man is dangerous, you should not approach him for any means necessary. His name is Bora. He was expelled from Titan Nose Guild for illegally selling girls as slaves."

Lucy's eyes widened in shock. "Well what do I do? It looked like he focused on me!" Lucy yelled in a well deserved worried tone.

"Stay by my side." Naruto smiled at her confidently. "I won't let him anywhere near you, that's a promise. And I never go back on my promises."

A red mist spread across Lucy's face, her heart beat furiously. _'Stay...by his side.'_

"Are you a couple?" Happy spoke for himself.

Both Naruto and Lucy went bright red, sweating badly they shook their heads in unison. "No, just friends is all!" The spluttered out together. They remained in silence as Natsu ate all the food. By the time he had finished, the evening sun was beginning turn the skies an orange colour.

The foursome walked through the town, Natsu sputtering out gratitude for the food all the way. As they approached the harbour, where Naruto was planning to sail from, Bora appeared on his purple carpet.

"Ah, I'm glad I found you. I spotted you in the crowd earlier and was hoping to offer you a last minute invitation to my party." Bora spoke confidently, unawares they know the truth about him.

"Go away please." Lucy spat out, turning her head away in disgust from him.

"I see from your keys that you are a Stellar Spirit Mage. Perhaps then I can offer you a place at my guild, Fairy Tail. All we have to do is return to the party to fill out the introduction details." The fake Salamander smirked again.

Naruto noticed how Natsu tensed up upon the mention of Fairy Tail. "Leave now." He spat out himself. "If you know what's good for you."

The smirk left Bora's face, anger growing on his face. He growled in fury, before his magic aura exploded in fury. "This isn't worth it!" He roared out loud. "You are to much of a prize to lose! Do you know how much you will be worth! I will just kill these two friends of yours and take you by force!" A purple flare grew around his fist, he ran forwards towards Natsu, aiming to take his head off.

Natsu caught the fist easily. "This is weak." Natsu spoke darkly. "Such a weak person using Fairy Tail's name for dastardly purposes. Using my guild's name!" Natsu's eyes widened, he threw Bora at the boat his party was at, Bora crashed through the wood.

"_**Karyū no Hōkō!**_" Natsu roared a massive amount of fire from his mouth, blast the boat up in flames, he shook his head wildly in victory over Bora.

Naruto smirked at the scene in front of him. "The real Salamander of Fairy Tail."

"Amazing, but..." Lucy stared at the scene in front of her as well. "ARE YOU TAKING IT A BIT TOO FAR!" She screeched, in his victory roar Natsu had destroyed half the port.

"Someone help, call the Rune Knights!" Screeches were heard as people evacuated the burning boat and houses. Rune Knights began flooding the scene, all target Natsu, Naruto and Lucy.

"We got to go!" Natsu panicked, grabbing Lucy by the hand he darted off away from the Knights, Naruto following behind him.

"Where are we going?" Lucy screeched as she was dragged through the air.

"You want to be a member of Fairy Tail right? Well how would you like to join?" Natsu continued running, yet looked towards her and grinned. "Both of you." He then turned to Naruto.

_'Me, join Fairy Tail?'_ Naruto thought suspiciously. He had never remained in one place for too long, perhaps it was time that he finally found a place to call home.

All four of them smiled as they ran towards Fairy Tail, towards new friends, towards new adventures...

* * *

><p><strong>AN:** Yo! Rinne-Kami here. Now I know what you're thinking. I shouldn't be starting a new fic, especially another Fairy Tail X Naruto fic, but this idea has been messing with my head, I can't concentrate on my other fics, so I just had to get it out there. I'm either gonna put this up for adoption, or I'm going to continue this more aggedly, when I can't do any of my other stories or I hit a writer's block on them, I'll update this. It was fun to write really.

This is NarutoxLucy by the way. I feel like it can be a very easy pairing to write and can improve my skills for when pairings come in Fairy Tail Utopia.

Naruto's summonings are based on the Chinese Zodiacs. A little bit more detail about them, all their names are based off anagrams of my creation off of each zodiac's motto, for example the Rat's motto is 'I rule'. The contract gun, I was playing with the ideas of dice or cards, but I like the use of discs and the Gun.

Leiru - proper pronunciation - _Ly-roo_

Wiin - proper pronunciation - _We-an_

Elife - proper pronunciation - _Eh-lif-ay_

Riegin - proper pronunciation - _Ree-jin_

Pictures of Naruto's clothing, his Contract Gun, Leiru and Wiin are all on my profile. See you guys when I update again.


	2. The Gate Of Hell

_'So this is Fairy Tail.'_ Lucy gazed around the room with amazement, the guild was filled with laughter and happy faces, each person chattering away to another without a care in the world.

Similarly, Naruto gazed around the room as well. _'So this is Fairy Tail.'_ He looked around, it was louder, louder than he had become accustomed to. He was so used to travelling in silence from place to place he forgot how loud a group of people could actually be.

"Excuse me, Hello!" A pretty white haired girl with a red flowing dress waved them over to her. "Are you new members? Natsu screamed something about it just a moment ago!"

Sure enough Natsu had entered a brawl with a large man with white hair and a black haired boy, screaming at Lucy and Naruto to come back him up. Sighing, Lucy and Naruto ignored him, making their way towards the girl frantically waving her arm.

"I'm Mirajane. I look after all new applicants when the Master is busy." She smiled cheerily at the two of them, Naruto nodded in return, however Lucy could no longer contain herself.

"I can't believe I'm meeting Mirajane! The cover girl of Fairy Tail!" She squealed in delight, admiring every feature of the white haired woman.

"Is she always like this?" Mirajane asked Naruto, laughing nervously at the blond girl's admiring stare.

"I wouldn't know, I've just met her." Naruto replied honestly with a shrug. _'But her name, Lucy Heartfilia. It sounds so familiar it's almost scary. I know who Heartfilia is, but Lucy...'_

"So you want to be members, let me just find the application forms." Mirajane rummaged underneath the bar counter, before bringing to forms and two pens out, placing one of each in front of the two blonds.

Naruto picked up the pen and browsed over the top of the application.

_'Name – Naruto Namikaze_

_Age – 17_

_Likes – Travelling_

_Dislikes – Stillness_

_Magic - **Shēngxiào Entity Summoning, Rasen, Flash Step**_

_Dreams for the future – To meet the Jade Emperor, king of the Shēngxiào.'_

Naruto looked over to Lucy, who had finally gotten over meeting her idol and filled in the application form and getting a pink member's stamp on her right hand.

Mira asked where Naruto wanted his stamp and in what colour, Naruto lifted the left side of his shirt, asking for an orange stamp on his hip next to his gun holster.

"That's it! Welcome to Fairy Tail!" Mira chimed happily, taking the member stamp away.

"That was surprisingly easy." Naruto commented curiously, he was expecting something more difficult than filling out a piece of paper.

"All of you shut up!" A colossal titan fell from above, the light dared not come near him, leaving him as a huge back monster. All the laughing, fighting members halted in place, staring fearfully at the massive beast.

Lucy ducked behind Naruto's back, quivering in fear, Naruto noticed her movement, looking at her curiously.

"Do you know how many complaints I've been getting!" The titan roared, before shrinking down to an old man with orange clothing and silly blue and orange striped hat. His left hand filled with pieces of paper. He shuffled the papers into both of his hands before speaking again. "Cana, you drank all the alcohol in a pub and sent the bill to the council. Elfman, you beat up a client who said only educated men are worthwhile. Gray, you stripped in the middle of town half way through a job. And Natsu, you just destroyed half a port!" The old man screamed in annoyance. "But who cares!" Everyone looked up smiling at the old man, as if they had heard all this before. "We do not abide by the rules of the Magic Council, this is Fairy Tail. Do what you believe is right and live life to the fullest!"

The guild began erupting in cheers, the old man set the complaint papers aflame, a symbol of Fairy Tail's freedom, throwing it in the air for Natsu to jump and devour it.

Mira sighed from next to him. "That's the Master for you." She spoke with a slight shake of the head.

Naruto looked to the man in a new light. _'So that is The Ultimate Makarov. User of Ultimate Magic and one of the strongest mages on the continent. Such an easy going person for somebody in his position.'_

* * *

><p>"Master Makarov?" Naruto gently opened the door to the old man's office, located deeper within the massive castle that was Fairy Tail's guild headquarters.<p>

"Oh, who are you boy, a newbie I presume?" Makarov looked up in interest from whatever he was signing to look at the blond kid in front of him.

Upon entering and closing the door behind him, the blond drew out a golden gun, Makarov's eyes narrowed in suspicion, the boy approached him, holding the gun above the table at Makarov's body.

"What is this, some kind of stick up? I don't know how much damage you intend to do with a Contract Gun." Makarov knew the design of the gun almost immediately.

"So you do know this." Naruto replied in return. "My name is Naruto Namikaze. A Celestial Spirit mage and user of the Shēngxiào Entity Summoning. And yes, I am a new member of Fairy Tail, this was just so I called capture your attention." Naruto replied, placing the gun down on Makarov's desk, sitting on the chair on the opposite side of Makarov's desk, smiling at the old man.

"So what can I do for you Naruto?" Makarov asked, seemingly more cheerier himself.

"I'm looking for one of the Platinum Discs, rather, I'm looking for any of the Platinum Discs. I figured that you might be able to help me in finding them, seeing as you have a lot more...experience in the world than me." Naruto alluded the fact that he was old, he was asking for help from the man, he didn't want to insult him.

"Hmm the Platinum Discs. Now that is a tough one, Gold Keys are highly wanted as there is a lot of Stellar Spirit Mages, so there is a lot of information floating around about them. But Platinum Discs are rare, you're the first one using them in a long time as far as my recollection goes. However I do recall the location of one such disc." Makarov scratched his chin, hoping to remember more about the disc.

"Where is it?" Excitement in Naruto grew, Makarov was a well respected man, not only for his power but for his spirit and honour as well. This was one man's word Naruto could fully trust.

"The last time I heard it was in the small town of Maguma, lying far in the North-East." Makarov informed him.

"Do you remember which one it was?" Naruto asked in hope. He had read that the Rabbit had some formidable power, as did the Ox and Monkey.

"I'm afraid I can not remember that much. But this information is fresh, I only heard this a few years ago." Makarov replied apologetically, he couldn't tell the boy everything he wanted to know.

"It's fine." Naruto beamed widely in return. "This is a good lead. I'll head to Maguma immediately. So I'll be off now Master." Naruto waved a small goodbye before he took towards the door.

"Wait!" Makarov called behind him, Naruto stopped his movements, staring back to the old man. "At least take a job in Maguma, then you have an actual reason to go there, it will benefit everyone involved, not just yourself."

Nodding Naruto took off out of the room back towards the guild hall. He couldn't waste any time, he needed to find a job to Maguma.

* * *

><p>Naruto moved hastily towards the Job notice board, he didn't want to waste anytime, someone else could come and take the only job to Maguma before he even got there.<p>

_'I'll have to ask Lucy to come along with me.'_ Naruto smiled, he enjoyed hanging out with Lucy, despite only just meeting her, her smile was warm and kind, and her mood swings of happiness to disbelief were fun to witness.

But as he arrived back in the main hall of the guild he found that the blond girl was no where in sight, when he had left earlier she was being bombarded with questions by a girl with wavy blue hair who stood with two larger guys.

Puzzled Naruto approached Mira at the bar. "Mira-san, do you know where Lucy is?" He asked inquisitively.

"Oh, you must be really protective of her, Lucy sure is lucky to have a guy like you around." Mira chimed happily, giggling at Naruto's flustered look. "Only kidding, Lucy actually left a few minutes ago with Natsu and Happy on a job, she will be back in a few hours if your willing to wait."

_'I don't have hours to wait.'_ Naruto replied inwardly, he had to make sure that this rumour was true or not. He couldn't afford to waste time. _'Sorry Lucy, but I have to go. But at least your in safe hands with Natsu.'_

"No it's fine. I'm not her personal bodyguard or anything, she can take care of herself." Naruto smiled in return to the white haired girl. He moved over to the notice board, his eyes scanning through all the missions available.

_'Hmm, help prepare for the arrival of a foreign king, get rid of a demon, check a haunted house, bandits, demon, bandits, preparations, bandits, bandits, bandits!'_ Naruto pulled on his hair in frustration. _'Gah! Is there one job that doesn't involve bandits or mundane tasks!'_ He looked towards the notice board again, his eyes locking on to one in particular, Naruto did a double take on the notice.

_'This could be it...'_ He leaned forward to read the fine print better. _'Help redirect the lava from the __oncoming volcanic eruption. Reward: 85'000J. Location: Maguma!'_ Naruto's face lit up in glee. The job, and it appeared to be the only one in Maguma, Naruto punched the air in his mind.

"If I complete a task like this, Bisca will be sure to notice my strength." A calm voice had appeared next to him, probably someone just talking out loud to themselves, Naruto chose to ignore it. He reached for the notice, when another hand came for the very same notice clutching onto it at the exact same time as himself.

"Excuse me. But I would like this job." Naruto turned to the person. A by looked back in annoyance. He has long, black hair which covered the right side of his face. He wore a brown cape with lighter shaded tassels cape over his shoulder and covers most of his upper body with a red shirt underneath. There is a knee guard on his left knee and on his belt were two gun straps.

The boy slowly reached for the gun on his left hip, his hand tightening around the handle. Naruto performed the same action, revealing his golden gun he grabbed it and pulled it out of the holster slowly.

The black haired boy looked down towards Naruto's Golden gun. "An interesting weapon you have there." He noted quietly. "I didn't know the new member was also a Guns Mage like myself and Bisca."

"I'm not a Guns mage, this is a tool for my magic to activate. My magic does not rely on this gun entirely." Naruto replied as cryptically as the black haired boy spoke before him.

They eyed each other up for a few minutes, daring each other to try and take the job all to themselves. "Okay, you know what. This is ridiculous." Naruto eventually spoke, shaking his head quickly. "Why don't we take the job together? I mean, the job is to redirect lava, we'll need more the one pair of hands to do that."

"Very well." The boy returned after a few seconds of hesitation. "My name is Alzack Connell, I would like to know your name as well if we are to be working together."

"My name is Naruto Namikaze." Naruto replied with a cheery smile.

Alzack nodded in return, snatching the job notice he moved over to Mira, Naruto followed closely behind in case he tried to pull a fast one. "Mira-san, Naruto and I will be going on this mission." Alzack spoke, sliding the notice paper towards the white haired girl.

Mira looked over it for a moment before a cheery smile went over her face. "Okie dokie! Have fun! I'll let the Master know."

"Thank you, Mira-san." Alzack gave the girl a small smile. "Come Naruto, we are departing." Alzack spoke to the blond, flicking his brown cape back over his shoulder.

* * *

><p><em>'For a guy so eager to get on the road, he sure is taking his time saying goodbye.'<em> Naruto mentally sighed, looking back over his shoulder, Alzack was still speaking to the green haired cowgirl, giving her a farewell and engaging her in a friendly chat. _'I don't have time for this!'_ Naruto screamed in his mind, he couldn't go over and force Alzack away from his friend, but he could at least hurry up. He needed to get to Maguma right away.

Naruto's mind clicked as his eyes opened wide. _'Where is Maguma anyway?'_ He stared questioningly at the road ahead.

"I'm sorry for making you wait so long." Alzack appeared next to him, rubbing the back of his head sheepishly, a small blush from his previous conversation still lingering on his face. He stopped all movement when he realised that his blond companion was not paying any attention. "Er...Naruto?"

"Alzack, do you have any idea where Maguma is?" Naruto mumbled out, not looking towards his direction.

"Um, no..." Alzack admitted, he had been so prepared to undertake this job, he didn't bother looking at the location. Now that he thought about it, he had no idea where Maguma was.

Naruto sighed. "Well the first thing to do is find out where were going." He stated the obvious, drawing his golden Contract Gun and a platinum disc.

Alzack watched the blond load the disc into the gun. "What do you plan to do?" He asked curiously, he had never seen a gun being used like this before.

"Activate my magic." Naruto's eyes flicked to the road ahead. "_**Load Platinum Disc.**_" He pointed the gun directly in front of himself. "_**Summon: Sixth Year Sishi: Elife the Snake!**_"

A bright light flashed, temporarily blinding Alzack, who saw that Naruto remained unflinching to the bright light, probably already having become used to it. As the light faded, Alzack could hear a distinct hissing sound, it was quiet.

"Oh, Naruto, it's been a long time since you have summoned me. I told you before, I won't be supplying with you on information about the other zodiac whereabouts." A feminine voice hissed coyly, a slight chuckle to it's hissing.

Alzack turned to face Naruto, a large bright Amazon green snake with an egg shell white underbelly had coiled itself around Naruto's body, it's head resting near Naruto's, it's tail, tipped with a white rattle curled around Naruto's leg. Alzack saw it had the most piercing slitted yellow eyes imaginable. Surprisingly, the snake had two arms which were currently both preoccupied. In it's left hand was a bright red apple which the snake took small bites off of constantly. It's right hand gently and consistently brush the side of Naruto's hair, loving the feeling as if his hair was made of cloud. "So, what can I do for you?" The snake hissed in a female voice, munching on it's red apple.

"Elife, can you tell me where the town of Maguma is?" Naruto asked in a very respectful tone. Naruto knew the snake's temper, which once boiled caused disastrous results.

"Maguma, let's see..." The green snake closed it's yellow eyes, when not taking bites from it's apple, it hummed in a pleasant tone, the rattle begin shaking wildly, growing faster and faster until the snake's eyes shot back open, a snake like smile grew on the snake's face.

"Maguma is that way." The snake replied finally, turning Naruto's head in the direction of the town, all the while stroking his hair. "Very far, it is. Set on the side of a volcano. A good week's journey by foot. However, there is one train that makes a voyage there once every three months, luckily you should be able to catch it from Magnolia today. Other than that, the easiest way to travel is by flight. Ah, but you and Riegin are not on very good terms. So that option is cancelled out." Elife finished sadly, taking a bite out of her apple as she patted Naruto hair.

The snake looked at her apple, it had been completely eaten save the core, stopping for the first time since Alzack had seen her, her right hand moved off Naruto's hair, she snapped her fingers quickly, suddenly the flesh of the apple began returning, as if the apple were going back in time, returning to the time it fell ripe from the branch. Elife took a new bite from her recently renewed apple, already continuing with stroking Naruto's hair.

"There is also a ship that regularly travels around the continent from the port town and arrives up near Maguma, but that is a two moth journey, not something I think you'd want to do, huh Naruto." The green snake giggled almost school girlishly.

"So we need to get the train now. Come, Naruto." Alzack commented. Elife's yellow eyes darted towards Alzack, leering into his very soul.

"And who is this one?" Elife hissed out angrily, she did not like the tone in which the black haired boy spoke to Naruto.

"His name is Alzack Connell, relax Elife, he's a friend." Naruto responded immediately, his voice was soothing, as if trying to calm the snake down.

"Friend? We shall see." The snake formed a sly grin, in an instant she had jumped from Naruto's body, slithering her way quickly to Alzack, coiling herself tightly around his body, bring her head to glare into Alzack's eyes at point blank. He free hand began stroking his hair similar to how she stroked Naruto's.

"Alzack, don't move!" Naruto ordered before Alzack even began panicking. Now trying to calm Alzack down. Alzack could only gulped as the snake frowned all the while stroking his hair.

"I don't like this one." Elife finally commented, jumping from Alzack's body and climbing back around Naruto's, stroking his blond locks once again. "His courage and strength is great, and he is devoted. But to one person in particular..."

Alzack's eyes snapped open wide, how did the snake know such things. "He will do dastardly things to those closest to him, all in the sake of her name, when her life is at risk, his true nature will reveal itself." She pointed one of her fingers curled around the apple at Alzack, who stood unnerved.

'_Bisca...'_ Alzack knew immediately who the snake was speaking of. _'Her life, will be in danger soon.'_ A frown began growing on his face. _'I swear I'll protect her with my own life!'_

"Elife, that's enough. Thank you for everything, but I'm going to have to send you back or we'll never catch that train." Naruto spoke to the snake.

"Very well then." The snake formed a sweet smile at the blond. "Don't be a stranger, Naruto." She patted him on the hair once more before vanishing away.

Naruto took the disc back out the gun and placed it back in the pouch, followed by the gun back in it's holster. "Come Alzack, we need to catch this train."

"Agreed, let's go." They both turned, running down the path towards Magnolia's train station.

* * *

><p>"This is going to be a long ride, we might as well get comfortable." Naruto found a free booth on the train, sliding the door open and sitting down, Alzack followed after him, sliding the door back shut and sitting on the seats opposite Naruto.<p>

"These are quite expensive tickets, in the private carts on the train. Are you sure about affording this?" Alzack asked as reclined into a more comfortable position.

"Absolutely, I need reasons to spend the money I have, I don't like carrying large amounts." Naruto smiled back in return without hesitation.

Alzack could only nod, giving a small smile himself. "Naruto, about that snake, Elife. What was that?"

"It was my magic, it's very similar to _**Stellar Spirit Summoning**_. Elife is one of my summons." Naruto replied, placing his golden contract gun on the table.

"No, I meant about the hair touching, and how she knew the location so easily and information how to get there." Alzack retorted.

"It's one of her magics is the ability to learn things through the Earth instantly. It's like she can sense all the information about a subject through her body. And if she touches you, she can learn all of your most inner thoughts, it's easier to do this by going directly through the head, that's why she likes stroking people's hair. Depending on what she finds out about you causes her reaction to you, I'm guessing she didn't like what she saw in your head." Naruto mused, scratching his chin. "Anyway, she's pretty laid back, so don't feel intimidated by her. You'll know when she gets pissed off, now THAT is scary." Naruto chuckled weakly, sounding almost as if he was forcing the laugh.

"So what about you Alzack, why were you so eager to take this mission?" Naruto asked the black haired boy.

"Well-I-What I want to do is- I mean why I took this mission." Alzack spluttered out, his face going as red as Elife's apple. He was unable to speak the truth about his feelings for Bisca still.

"I take it your doing this to impress a girl." Naruto replied unfazed at the comment, Alzack went silent. Naruto shrugged his shoulders. "Elife said something about your true nature being exposed because of a girl, just figured this would be the same thing. Now I won't lecture you about this. In fact I think it's a pretty noble gesture to do something this dangerous in her honour, but it won't count for anything unless you tell her that it was for her, and what if you died, then what could you say."

Alzack looked at Naruto in surprise, but lowered his head in shame nonetheless, his words were correct. He was unable to tell Bisca his feelings for her, everything he did for her would go unnoticed unless he told her that he did them for her. "I understand." Alzack mumbled in return. "It's just that I can't bring myself to tell Bisca. We both came over from the west together. We have been friends for such a long time, I don't want anything to ruin it. I'm sorry."

"No, I'm sorry I brought it up. It was wrong of me if you're are so uncomfortable in talking about it." Naruto smiled apologetically.

"And what about yourself, why were you so eager to take this mission?" Alzack asked in return to the blond.

"There might be something of extreme value to myself in Maguma, it is the first real good lead I have had in a while and I must have it. This was the only job in Maguma, so I had to make sure I was taking it." Naruto replied, staring out at the fast moving Earth on the opposite side of the window.

_'Cryptic. He doesn't want to say too much.'_ Alzack noted Naruto's refusal to go into too much detail. "You're allowed to open up, Naruto. We are friends now."

Naruto looked back towards the West grown boy, smiling at him. '_Friends?'_ It was a new concept to him, travelling alone, having no place to call a home. This was all happening too fast for him.

* * *

><p>The conductor called for the final stop, Maguma. Only Naruto and Alzack remained in their cart, in fact barely anyone got off with them. The train stopped to refuel before taking off back down the track towards Magnolia train station.<p>

"Elife wasn't wrong about the distance, what was that, a day and a half?" Naruto groaned out as he stretched his back, leaning back to get the kinks out.

"Yeah, almost two days." Alzack returned, clicking his neck. It had been a long journey, the first class cart offering movie Lacrima and other pass times made it easier though.

"My, my, we rarely get any visitors so far up the track." A middle aged man stood before them, with a burnt red shade of hair and small beard, dressed in a purple shirt and black pants with an elegant sash going over both his shoulders and a wooden staff. "My name is Kazen, the leader of the village of Maguma."

"Kazen, we are from Fairy Tail." Alzack responded, bowing respectfully towards the man.

"Ah, Fairy Tail, so our job request was accepted." The man perked up instantly. "Well lets not waste time here. I shall explain everything there is to know on the way to the village."

The trio began leaving the small train station, stepping out from under it's ceiling, the sky was darkened with black ash, small veins of red lava ran through the ground under their feet. Looking up, the colossal volcano loomed overhead, smoke and ash plume from it's mouth. At the base of the volcano was a small village, housing consisted of hard rock houses. Probably made from all the nearby Earth, it blended in nicely to the scene of the Volcano.

"The volcano erupts annually. And in our village it is a joyous and festive time, the earth left behind is highly fertile and plants and crops grow quickly. Our barriers are good enough to stop the lava hitting our village and redirecting it around it, leaving the ground around us fertile for agriculture." Kazen began explaining as they neared the town.

"So what seems to be the problem, sounds like you've got everything pretty much sorted." Naruto asked, seeing the towering walls surrounding the village.

"As I said, their strong enough to withstand one eruption per year, we then repair them over the year in order to protect us for the following year. However, something has happened and it has caused the volcano to erupted more over the past few years, last year it erupted four times, we simply don't have the time to repair the barriers if this continues. Many villagers have opted to flee the village, meaning we have less manpower to help repair the walls. Because of this the Volcano has created a new reputation for itself, demolished it's previous one of wealth and prosperity, and has been adorned with a new nickname."

"And that nickname is?" Alzack asked quizzically.

"The Gate of Hell." Kazen replied in a deadened tone. "Aside from helping us repair the wall in preparation, we need people who are able and unafraid to scale the volcano and find out if the problem many of the villagers have speculated is true, and if so, exterminate it." Kazen continued. "We do not expect charity, the reward for the job upon completion will be of course tripled."

"Tripled?" Naruto let off a loud whistle. "That's 255'000J, are you sure about giving away such a large amount?"

Kazen nodded in return. "That is only the base some, the volcano is going to erupt soon, this is it's regular annual eruption, and the most ferocious, if you are able to help us in time, the reward could be even more substantial than that. I understand you may be disbelieving, despite our appearance, our village is a pretty wealthy community, we have a lot of goods export to other towns."

"So what is the problem the villagers have speculated?" Alzack asked curiously.

"The only thing possible, the volcano has never done something like this before. And recently a monstrous demon has taken up residence inside the mouth of the volcano, enduring it's unbearable heat without restraint, as if training in it's fires." Kazen explained.

"And you believe this demon is the cause?" Naruto asked further.

Kazen nodded. "Yes, it must be doing something up there to anger the Volcano and causing it to erupt. This demon, you must be wary of it. Those who have seen it have not returned unscathed, most do not return at all. It is a three headed beast straight from the depths of hell. Are you up to the task of getting rid of it for us?"

"Alzack and Naruto looked to one another before answering, a nod from each of them. "We are."

* * *

><p><strong>AN:** Yo! Chapter 2 done and dusted, probably not as much going on as in chapter 1 but still pretty darn good, overall. A good 7.5/10.

I'll post a picture of Elife's color scheme on my profile, I couldn't find a picture of a snake with arms so you might just have to imagine. I was playing on an ability to know everything about the world, and based her around the first book of the Bible genesis, for those who don't know, the devil is commonly displayed as transforming into a snake to trick Adam and Eve by having them eat the forbidden fruit of knowledge, commonly dipicted as an Apple, so there you go. Her other magics will appear, just got to think of names and uses.

If you want to take guesses at which platinum disc is in Maguma feel free to guess, but there definately is one and I have a great story for them. Naruto's final disc, Riegin will be making an appearance soon, yes he is a Dragon, and more will be explained later. I'll do bios of all the platinum summons once more of there magics have been revealed.

I have thought of a pretty good villain. I have a good motive for why he would be following Naruto and his reason for being so villainous. Fnally I'd like to apologise for being such a doucher by spoiling so much of the story, but it's kind of like a reminder to myself, and proof that I do plan to take this somewhere.

How do you feel about Alzack? Here's the thing, in canon it's always Natsu, Gray, Lucy Erza. Other members barely have a chance to shine, sure Elfman, Mira and Gajeel all had there moments, but no real character development. And in Fanon, people just add Naruto to the storyline of Canon, I've done it with Fairy Tail Utopia, mainly because I doubt my abilities of writing convincing plotlines, but anyway. I'm trying to stray away from that. He will appear in some canon arcs, maybe Galuna Island, Phantom Lord and the like, but Naruto has his own goals to accomplish.

This is NarutoxLucy, a pairing that was the least popular out of the Naruto choices of my FTU poll, and finding out it was the lowest just made me want to use it. So I'll build into a relationship rather than just jumping straight in.

Well that's about it,

Rinne-Kami, Out!


	3. Alzack's Determination

"Wow. I'm surprised there's a cove like this that enters right into the volcano." Naruto noted with a surprised look, the cave was large enough for him to walk through without trouble, he stood near the top of the slant of the volcano's side. "It also is dimly lit, probably because of the magma inside."

Shrugging, he made his way closer to the cave, he stopped as he looked at the ground, "Aha!" He spoke energetically, bending down to pick up a stone equalling the size of his hand, he scratched it against the side of the cave's wall. A white scratch mark was left.

_'Excellent, this will do.'_ He smiled as he began making his way into the caves, every 10 metres or so, or whenever he had to make a turn he would mark an arrow pointing back in the direction of the exit.

However, he noted along the way that there were similar markings along the walls, some more frustrated and crudely made than others. _'So what Kazen said was right, other people have ventured up here. So I wonder how far ahead this demon is?'_

The reason he chose to come here was simple, he knew in his heart and in his head that if the Platinum Disc was going to be anywhere, it would be inside the volcano, they were always in the hardest spots.

_'Elife's Disc was in the deepest part of a Rain Forest, and resting within a pit of dangerous snakes which she led. Wiin's was in an oasis in the middle of a Savannah, which took days under scorching heat to reach. And Leiru...'_ Naruto shuddered the thought away, retching at the memory. _'No. I won't cause myself to remember that sewer.'_

He and Alzack had split up, Alzack remained in the village, helping build the defensive wall while he checked out the rumours surrounding the Gate of Hell.

He began to hear the rumbling of magma bubbling underground, mixed with, what he could only describe as, a deep growling and breathing.

_'I guess that means the rumour was true.'_ Naruto made his way towards the noise. _'There is a demon that has taken up residence in the volcano.'_

He found the light getting brighter, following it, he stumbled onto the edge of what could be an arena in the volcano, a large platform of broken rock lay in the middle of a lake of magma, slowly being melted away by the unreal temperatures.

And standing in the centre, or rather chained in place by abyss black chains was a monster. A pitch black dog was chained by it's limbs to the stones walls of the volcano. It's arms being crossed over it's chest and it's legs being pulled to shoulder length a part. Three dog heads panted deeply and evilly, black smoke escaping from their mouths with every breath, pouring down onto the ground below. There was no fat on it's human like body, every muscle pulse through it's sleek black fur coat, with a tattered tribal like loincloth hanging around it's waist as it's only form of clothing, golden spiked chokers and bracelets were around it's arms and legs and necks. Across it's body were blue tribal markings.

It's fists flexed at the presence of Naruto, revealing long, sharp, steel-like claws. It looked up, as soon as it's three sets of eyes met Naruto's figure their gaze hardened with fury. It's deep growl turn into a piercing roar, shaking the foundations of the environment surrounding them, it's three sets of sharp teeth baring towards Naruto.

It's limbs tore themselves from their chain confinements, long chains now hung from it's arms and legs, it slipped into a pouncing hunter stance, growling furiously at Naruto.

Quickly, Naruto took towards his Contract Gun and Wiin's Disc. 'Sorry Alzack, but I might be a little longer than I anticipated.' He apologised in his made.

"_**Load Platinum Disc**_" Naruto swiped Wiin's disc into the gun. "_**Summon: Third Year Yinshi: Wiin the Tiger!**_"

* * *

><p>"<em><strong>Guns Magic: Earth Slate Shot!<strong>_" Alzack roared loudly, firing too extra bullets down, which turned into heavy stone slates, layering up the final two chunks missing of his work. The extra wall he had created now stood five rows of his Earth Slates long and 8 metres high.

His hands, still clutching his pistols, leaned onto his knees for support, he panted heavily, sweat dripping from his face.

_'I'm exhausted...'_ He sighed inwardly. _'And I've only gotten halfway through what I had planned to build this wall.'_ His teeth clenched together in frustration. _'I wanted to prove I can be as brave and strong and dependable as Naruto, Natsu and Gray. But am I even at their level?'_

_**You want to go on a job, Alzack, with me?**_

His eyes flashed open wide as her words flooded back into his mind.

_**I think you're going to be one of the strongest mages in this guild. I can't wait to see you become S-Class.**_

_'That's right...'_ Determination began building back with him, suddenly he didn't feel as tired anymore. _'Bisca believes in my strength, if I can't even build one wall, how will I ever accomplish my dreams. If I don't finish this wall, how can I look Bisca in the eye again!'_

"_**Guns Magic: Earth Slate Shot!**_" Alzack yelled in a new found determination, shooting rapid fire bullets down, forming new rows or Earth slates.

Suddenly the village stopped as the sky split in two, the bright sun beaming down on the land for perhaps the first time, the ash of the volcano split as the sun targeted that directly, the villagers looked at the sky mesmerised by the blissful blue and the shining sun.

Alzack looked up to the volcano in worry. What could possibly be happening up there? _'I hope Naruto is okay, perhaps we shouldn't have split up.'_

_**-flashback - break-**_

"So how shall we do this?" Naruto asked seriously, staring down Alzack intently. "The easiest solution here would be for one of us to build the wall whilst the other checks out the Volcano for the Demon. The only thing we know about it is that it apparently has three heads. That might not be much, but it's something."

Alzack's head lowered. _'I should say it, but why can't I?'_ He should say I'll check out the Volcano, but he couldn't bring himself to say it. _'Am I really that afraid of the unknown? I came from the west without knowing anything about this land, and this is a lot less scarier than that, but why can't I say I'll go. Am I really that afraid?'_

"I'll go." Alzack's head snapped up, looking in shock at Naruto, who looked rather uninterested with his proclamation, despite the fact he said it without hesitation, unlike himself. "I'll check out the Volcano, you stay here and help rebuild the village's defences. I won't be too long" Naruto left immediately, giving a small wave over his shoulder.

_'Such bravery, unlike myself he isn't scared, or at least...he doesn't show it.'_ Alzack's spirit hardened. _'I will be as brave and courageous as Naruto! It may not be at the same level, but I will ensure that this wall is completed in time!'_

Alzack turned around to face the broken down wall of Maguma. He drew his two guns and ran towards it. "_**Guns Magic: Earth Slate Shot!**_" A magic seal shone green in front of the barrels of his pistols, the bullets he fired turned into large slates of earth crashing onto the ground in front of the wall, he fired more across, creating a layer along the bottom of the wall.

_'I can't stop there!'_ Alzack gritted in his mind, firing more bullets, he created a platform of earth along the ground extending from the wall, five rows of Earth slates, he then began firing more bullets, now layering slates on top of the platform. _'I will succeed!'_

* * *

><p>Alzack sighed a sigh of relief, his work was done, standing atop his work he wiped the sweat from his brow he turned to Kazen. "There. I added 10 layers of my Earth Slate around the sides of the village and it is ten metres high. I have even put seating areas on the top so you can watch the eruption take place now instead of waiting behind the wall.<p>

Kazen inspected Alzack's creation, large enough for to walk on it easily. "Amazing," He mumbled under his breath. "This added wall is infused with much denser stone, so this could last up to a decade, plus you've have created a tourist attraction by people being able to view a volcano erupting. This is exquisite and an unnecessary added feature you have bestowed upon us. There will most certainly be a bonus in your pay!" Kazen chimed happily at the end, pleased with Alzack's work.

_'This village, it has no morals when it comes to money, they just seem to want to throw it away.'_ Alzack sighed inwardly, this village was incredibly money oriented, but his job was to build a wall, he didn't deserve extra for doing his job.

Everyone turned as an explosion was heard, magma burst from the top of the Volcano, only a small amount, perhaps just a build up to the actual event, but ash and earth blew from the tops of the volcano and from holes in the side.

Alzack noticed one such item being hurled towards them, firing through the air. It crashed down hard on top of the wall, only slightly cracking the top of what he had spent all day creating.

As the smoke cleared around the object, screams of horror erupted. "Go and fetch assistance quick!" Alzack shouted at the villagers.

It was not a lump of earth that struck the wall, but Naruto. Beaten, bloody and burned. His eyes were lifelessly open, his mouth hung agape, it was safe to say he was unconscious, but he could be dead.

Alzack hurried towards him, smoke still creeping off his body,, he checked for even the smallest pulse. There was. Faint as a whisper, but certainly a pulse.

Villagers came with a makeshift stretcher to hoist him onto, as they gently pick Naruto up, Alzack noticed, despite being unconscious, Naruto's left hand was tightly enveloped around something. Peeling his hand open, to take whatever he was clutching onto for safe keeping, he found a small disc.

_'One of his summon discs.'_ Alzack noted, on one face it had the symbol for dog, while on the other was a picture of the very same animal.

* * *

><p>"So Yirrow finally managed to break free from my spell..." A voice spoke quietly to themselves from the rim of the volcano, watching the lava pouring down the sides of the earth, the village had created a durable enough wall to last a good few more years thanks to that cowboy mage. "A shame really, having my dark magic course through Yirrow's body into the Volcano and cause it to erupt more violently was fun and all, but it appears I may have to move on, besides..."<p>

His gaze shifted to the small hut where the blond boy was located in, even from the distance, he could see it, he could smell it. "Naruto Namikaze, I smell Rat on you."

Standing up, he readjusted his black blazing and readjusted his tie and top hat, his body began fading slowly, as if fading out of this world and into a murky mist. "At least now I know who my target is, we'll see each other real soon, Naruto..."

* * *

><p><strong>AN:** The events are to be explained in Chapter 4: The Guardian of the Gate of Hell! What happened up in the volcano with Naruto? Find out next time!

Yo! Rinne-Kami here saying, this chapter kind of sucked. I've hit a writer's block with all my stories and I've considered the option of passing on all my stories to my friend DeathGodSlayer, he knows where I want to take the stories and honestly he's more enthusiastic about writing at the moment then I am, I was hoping this would reignite my passion for writing, but it only gave it a small jump start.

I NEED to update my pokemonxNaruto fic, it's on my to do list, and I'll try to update that next, but this month I have my A-Level Exams, so I probably won't be updating at all, I need to focus on making sure I get good grades.

Some things that need to be explained. When the discs are put into the gun it's like putting a USB into a computer, you just get the infomation to work something. The gun doesn't actually fire the disc. I've been planning for the gun to be upgraded to a double barrel, maybe up to a triple barrel like Cerberus on Dirge of Cerberus FF7.

A lot of people are complaining that Naruto is too OC. Well I'm incorporating the Rasengan and the Hiraishin into this as his other magics, read his Fairy Tail application on Chapter 2, it's right at the beginning, if that was what your after, otherwise yeah, he is like an OC, as is every Naruto character that has been modified for a story by an author.

I'll explain more at the end of Chapter 4 when I can because more will have been revealed.

Til Next Time,

Rinne-Kami, Out!


	4. In The Pits Of Hell

Naruto's eyes snapped open, his chest heaved up and down rapidly, his upper body shot up as he scanned his surroundings, trying to figure out where he was.

"Naruto, Naruto! Calm down!" Alzack jumped to hold onto the blond's shoulder's, restraining him from moving too much, his body was injured too badly to move yet. "You're back at Maguma! You're badly injured, you must calm down!"

Naruto continued looking around, his eyes darting to a small mirror to the left, sure enough he was in a bad, his body covered in white bandages, only his face and the top of his hair visible. His usual bright eyes, darkened with tiredness and purple bruises snapped open, searching around his person for something. "Where is it?" Naruto flew into a rage, screaming the repeated question. He grabbed Alzack by the collar, pulling him so they were face to face. "Where the hell is it?" He screamed right in Alzack's face, glaring wide eyed directly in Alzack's startled ones.

"You mean this?" Alzack shakily opened his hand, revealing the platinum disc he found in the unconscious Naruto's hand. "I've been holding onto it for safe keeping."

"Give me it!" Naruto snatched it from Alzack's hand, pushing him away at the same time, Alzack crashed onto the floor, wincing slightly. He looked back up at Naruto's who was gripping the disc tightly in both hands.

_'I've never seen someone more obsessed over something, not even Natsu's that obsessed about finding Igneel.'_ Alzack stared as Naruto stroked the disc a few times.

"I'm sorry," Naruto apologised quietly. "but you have no idea what I went through to get this."

"I see." Alzack mumbled. That made sense, Naruto's obsession over the disc and his injuries, he might have gone through hell to get that disc. "What happened up there? Was there really a demon?"

Naruto nodded, holding up the disc to Alzack's horror. "That disc holds the demon!" He spoke in alarm, but remained quiet as to not startle the villagers.

Naruto looked down at the Platinum disc in his hands. "In a way yes. The demon in the volcano was actually one of the Shēngxiào Spirits, however he was under an evil curse, which he has now been freed of. I guess I may have to explain in more detail..."

* * *

><p>"<em><strong>Load Platinum Disc<strong>_" Naruto swiped Wiin's disc into the gun. "_**Summon: Third Year Yinshi: Wiin the Tiger!**_"

"Naruto. I am ready to fight." Wiin appeared confident, cracking his knuckles however his body froze as soon as he saw the demon, staring into it's eyes. "I see," He noted. "That's quite a complication."

"What is?" Naruto asked curiously, Wiin noticed something instantly that he himself couldn't see.

"There is a dark magic coursing through the body of that beast, it's being funnelled into the Volcano, aggravating the magma and it's pressure causing it to erupt more violently." Wiin explained. "But more importantly, and perhaps more dangerous is that the beast itself is the _**Eleventh Year Xushi: Yirrow the Dog**_, who went missing two years ago."

"What?" Naruto yelled, turning to the beast in astonishment. "That's one of the Shēngxiào spirits?"" Naruto asked in an unbelieving manner.

Wiin only nodded in return. "It is, however Yirrow has been possessed by an evil curse, he appears to not even be in the right mind set, and this mutation on his body, it is not his true form." Wiin flexed the muscles in his arm, preparing for the fight. "Naruto, I ask that you step away from this fight, it will more than likely not end well."

"No way." Naruto smiled, standing confidently next to the larger tiger. "I fight alongside my spirits, that's my style!"

"...Very well," Wiin accepted begrudgingly. "However I will be the decoy. I will use my _**Claw**_ and _**Burst**_ magics to restrain Yirrow, then you move in for the attack." Wiin replied.

"_**Burst**_? You can only use that for 8 seconds at a time. Then you have to wait 1 minute before you'll be able to use it again, you'll be dangerously exposed." Naruto commented, sure Wiin's speed and strength increased to an almost unrivalled level once he activated _**Burst**_, but there was only an 8 second time limit to use the spell.

"It's a worthy risk, even with your speed through _**Flash Step**_, you might not have the strength to restrain Yirrow. I on the other hand will." Wiin glared hard at Yirrow's snarling, drooling form. "We begin now!" Wiin shouted, all the muscles in his body seemed to tense, an wall of air exploded off of him, the ground cracked and crumbled under his feet. "_**Burst**_!"

In a second he was gone, nought but an enormous crater of destroyed earth was left where he was stood. Naruto looked over to the snarling dog, unprepared at Wiin's speed, received a crushing blow from over head on the middle skull. Wiin followed quickly. "_**Claw: Iron Maiden!**_" He shouted, Wiin's second magic, giving him the ability to grow bone claws from any part of his body to any length he thought of. Giving him unbelievable diversity in fighting an opponent, especially when using it with _**Burst**_.

Hundreds of spikes, all roughly three inches long protruded from Wiin's skin, covering his torso and arms, within a second he was behind Yirrow, wrapping his huge arms around the dog demon's body, clamping them shut and trapping his arms down, the spikes digging into the black fur. "Now Naruto!" Wiin screamed.

Naruto nodded. "_**Flash Step: Sky Soaring Leap!**_" Channel his magic Naruto disappeared, reappearing above both Yirrow and Wiin.

_'There it is.'_ Wiin recognised the magic. _'__**Flash Step**__. The only magic I have ever lost against in terms of speed. But mind you, it's pretty difficult to beat a teleportation spell.'_

"Get ready to move Wiin!" Naruto shouted, he extended the digits out on his left hand, stretching them apart. Small blue spheres began growing at the end of each finger, barely bigger than a golf ball. The blue spheres spiralled around madly. "_**Rasen: Tama!**_" Naruto roared, the spheres shot from Naruto's fingers like bullets, shooting down towards Yirrow, Winn held steady, releasing his grip on Yirrow at the very last minute, dodging the attack and leaving Yirrow to accept the full brunt of it.

Each sphere was like a miniature explosion mixed with a tornado, spiralling uncontrollably and expanding once they met a target, The demon dog was completely covered in smoke from the attack, it grunted in pain as the attacks struck, exploding on it's skin.

Naruto and Wiin landed safely on opposite sides of the arena like platform on the lava, Yirrow still standing in the middle. _'And there is his second magic, __**Rasen**__. Unlike other magics that channel the magic into an element being either created or already there such as Ice, Lightning, Fire, Light and even souls. Rasen uses only pure magical power that courses in the user's body in the form of a spiralling shape, concentrating and powering whilst spinning in place. It is dangerous, and cost me the fight on that day.'_ Wiin remembered the day he and Naruto met, when he joined Naruto on his journey.

As the smoke cleared they found Yirrow glaring at both of them at the same time, using two heads, his chest heaved up and down.

_'Yirrow never had that kind of endurance before!'_ Wiin stared at the beast, whatever had cursed Yirrow had increased his strength and endurance tremendously.

_'Shit, our attack did nothing!'_ Naruto gritted his teeth, preparing another ten bullets of_** Rasen: Tama**_.

Yirrow roared ferociously, the chains wrapped around his wrists suddenly grew in proportion without warning, in a split second chains wrapped around both Naruto and Wiin, tightening around them like an Anaconda.

_'A chain magic!_' Wiin looked in surprise._ 'Yirrow never had one of these before!'_ Looking down at the chains, glowing an eerie black in colour, he felt the chains burning against his skin. _'And they burn the target was they are wrapped as well!'_

Continuing roaring, Yirrow swung both of them with power, lifting them up into the air easily, the chains extended further, their bodies began crashing against the sides of the volcano, flesh and bone met earth with a frightening impact.

The chains retracted quickly as Yirrow swung his arms down from over head, Naruto and Wiin crashed into the earth face first.

Wiin winced as he felt the chains tighten even further, but he heard a spluttering. Opening only one eye, he found Naruto bloody and beaten, coughing up massive amounts of blood. Naruto was leaner than his bulky frame, he had more muscle to cushion the impact and a naturally higher endurance, his bones were also stronger. These attacks must be slowly killing Naruto.

_'I must do something!'_ Wiin thought in worry, but felt himself being swung by the chains again, he and Naruto soared in the air once again, before being launched to opposite ends of the volcano, landing of chunks of rock along the walls after crashing into it.

Looking, Naruto was slowly looking back at Yirrow, barely moving at all. Looking down to Yirrow, he found the demon preparing some kind of assault, charging towards Naruto.

_'No!'_ Wiin screamed in his head, jumping back to his feet in pain._ 'I made a promise at the time we met. And I intend to keep it, Naruto!'_

_**-Flashback-Break-**_

"_**Rasen: Gan!**_" The blond boy drove a blue spiralling sphere formed in his right had into his abdomen. Wiin flinched as the attack struck him, the attack, mixed with the boy's other magic drove him through the trees of the small oasis, finishing with Wiin's back drilling into a large rock.

_'This boy... is strong,'_ Wiin thought through the pain filling his body. _'I couldn't read his attacks, that magic; __**Flash Step**__. It was as if he was teleporting his body, it was like fighting a yellow blur. I couldn't keep up...'_

"I lost..." Wiin's body craved sleep, and he allowed it, closing his eyes for what he could have expected to be for the last time.

* * *

><p>Wiin's eyes opened slowly, looking he found the blond boy wrapping his body in bandages. "You... spared my life?" Wiin asked quietly.<p>

"What do you mean? Spirits can't die, can they?" The boy asked curiously as he continued wrapping Wiin's back.

"Not death, but we spirits can cease to exist, Celestial Spirits, if they spend to long in the Human world without returning to the Spirit world will fade from existence. Us Shēngxiào Spirits do not possess that weakness, as we must be found in the real world and challenged in order to join the user of us spirits. However, if we are afflicted by a terrible magic, be it curse magic or black magic, we can cease to exist, just like all living things." Wiin explained as Naruto finished bandaging him, moving he sat in front of Wiin, leaning against a smaller rock.

"Well then I couldn't kill you even if I wanted too, Wiin. My magic isn't black or dark magic." The blond boy smiled at the tiger.

"You knew my identity before I told you that, didn't you? But how did you manage to find me out here?" Wiin asked in suspicion.

"Elife gave me a point in the right direction." The blond smiled even wider. "My name is Naruto, by the way. And I want you to join me."

"Naruto, so you are the new user of _**Shēngxiào Entity Summoning**_ that is collecting the discs. May I ask what discs you have so far?" Wiin asked curiously, not a good trait, he remembered some saying about curiosity and cats, but this boy was strong, strong enough to best him, one of the few combat oriented spirits in Shēngxiào, and one of the strongest, what others could he have obtained?

"All I have at the moment is the Dragon and the Snake, but I have another lead about where the Rat is as well." Naruto replied with a cheery smile.

"Riegin?" Wiin scoffed heartily. "He took to a new owner uncharacteristically quickly. Especially seeing as his last owner could have been classed as a God."

"Riegin was the first spirit I got. I found him with the contract gun a few years ago by accident in an ancient tomb. Riegin doesn't like me too much, and I agree with him. I haven't earned his respect yet, but I will in time. I just need to prove myself."

"I see. Well you have proved yourself to me, you have completed my challenge, to defeat me in combat. And as a Tiger, a strong and proud species, that is not easy for me to say." Wiin commented with a smirk growing on his face. "Your strength is commendable, therefore I will offer mine to you. I will join you, I hope I will be of use to you."

"Of course you will, all the spirits are extraordinary in there own way!" Naruto smiled, extending his hand towards Wiin, looking surprised, Wiin reached for it slowly, Naruto shook their hands. Wiin smiled in appreciation, he had never been shown such respect and kindness before.

_'I will be of use to you, Naruto. I will ensure your safety no matter what.' _Was Wiin's thought as he finally returned to the Spirit Plain in a bright light.

Naruto looked down at the Platinum disc now in his hand, the symbol for tiger on one side, a picture of one on the other, the sun sparkled off the disc in a shining glory. "Finally, Wiin the Tiger. I think we will make a good team."

_**-Flashback End-Break-**_

The demonic Yirrow moved in for the inevitable kill, three sets of fangs bared, it's claws sharpened to rip and shred Naruto apart.

And Naruto couldn't move, his body froze in place. Was it because of fear? Or did he realise that this was unavoidable? Right from the get go he was at a disadvantage against this super strength demon.

All Naruto could hear was silence, as the beast approached, pulling it's arms back and jumping into the air, aiming to crash down on Naruto.

A shadow appeared in front of him, arms extending wide, creating a wall between himself and the demon, Naruto's eyes widened further. "MOVE, WIIN!" He screamed, yet the tiger stood in place.

_'I used __**Burst**__ to close the distance between me and Naruto, now there's no way I can dodge Yirrow's attack.'_ Staring over his shoulder back at Naruto, he formed a small smile on his face. "I am unable to use my strength to defend you against this threat, Yirrow is too strong for me in this form, but perhaps I can still be of some use to you. Escape, as he attacks me." Wiin spoke softly, turning back to face Yirrow's jaws.

There was no time for anything else, Yirrow had closed the distance in an instance, two sets of jaws clamped down onto Wiin's shoulders, tearing into flesh, the third hit under his left arm, at Wiin's back, two arms crossed and sharp claws dug into skin, in a second Yirrow pulled everything back, claws tearing through flesh, meat being ripped from the torso by the jaw. Yirrow roared ferociously from his three mouths, gargling on the skin of it's recent attack.

Wiin fell backwards, and Naruto still couldn't move to help him, he began fading way as spirits do when they return to the spirit world, however his light was dim, dimmer than any light he had ever seen, even as he fell to the ground, even as his wound gnawed away at him, Wiin's smile never faded. He disappeared back to the spirit world entirely just before his back struck the ground, leaving Naruto alone with the beast.

However this beast was not Yirrow, this beast came from within Naruto, wide shocked eyes furrowed into rage filled ones, his nostrils flared in fury, teeth clenched together yet lips pulled apart, Naruto snarled with every breath. He let out a scream of pure vengeance, bringing out a new disc. Something he had promised not to do until he was ready?

"_**Load Platinum Disc!**_" Naruto screamed in fury, placing the new disc in the gun. "_**Summon: Fifth **__**Year Chenshi: Riegin the Dragon!**_" He pointed the gun towards the ash filled sky and fired, light exploded from the gun, wind twisted around the shot.

"Naruto, I'm disappointed," A voice beckoned out inside the volcano. "Never have I seen such damage inflicted upon Wiin, this only proves my point further. You are not able to wield us spirits."

A man, dressed head to toe in armoured appeared, his armour was spiked in a shining blue and gold colour, the feet shaped like claws digging into the earth, his helmet was tipped with a long red fabric flowing behind him, three long thorned whips of steel extended from in between the shoulders of the armour.

He stared down the beast in front of him. "I know this one is to blame for Wiin's injuries, and his wounds are filled with a dark magic, it is halting the spirit world's instant healing ability upon re-entry. Wiin is being tended to, but Yirrow must be stopped now." The man's voice echoed within his helmet.

His hands formed a circle in front of his stomach. "_**This is my power, bathe in the warmth of the light.**_" Riegin chanted ominously, looking up, Naruto saw the clouds, the very sky beginning to split, the sun shining through into the volcano, light collecting and concentrating into Riegin's hands. "_**Tenki: Absolving Supernova!**_" Riegin roaring, firing the blast of light at Yirrow, there was no escape, light filled the volcano, Yirrow roared in pain as the light enveloped his entire body.

Naruto's vision faltered in the light, it blinded him. _'Riegin is so strong, he is right, I have no right to fight alongside him in battle, do I have the right to fight with any of the discs as well?'_

"You do have the right to fight alongside us, Naruto."

Naruto's eyes widened, that was an entirely new voice. _'And how did they know my thoughts?'_ Naruto asked himself with shock.

The light of Riegin's attack begin to fade, gone was the demonic beast that was Yirrow, now there stood what could only be described as divine. The two extra heads had disappeared, now the single dog head had a narrower muzzle, with a soft, completive look to it's eyes, the bulging muscles were covered by a white, skin tight cloth that covered all it's muscles. Over it's head was a solid gold cloth headdress, he also wore golden gauntlets over his arms and a golden battle skirt, cloths of black and white fabric flowed behind the dog man at his shoulders and back. In his right hand was a large staff made of gold, tipped like a hammer at the end.

"Who is this?" Naruto stared at the man in wonder, his eyes wide with awe at the man before him, he looked more regal than even Riegin.

"I am Yirrow." The dog man introduced himself to Naruto's shock. "I must explain these turn of events. I was infected with a curse magic, turning my form into that hideous form, wiping my mind clean of everything but destruction, my body was only a medium to pour dark magic into the volcano and earth, causing it's violent eruptions."

"But who was the cause of your curse, Yirrow?" Riegin's armour faded from his body, as if like a Requip, Riegin revealed his own face, one that Naruto had only seen once before. He was a young man with dark green hair, sleeked into a backwards spiked style and a pair of violet coloured eyes. His face was soft, yet authoritative. He dressed in an expensive looking white suit jacket and pants with a purple undershirt, with a black belt and shined shoes. Embroiled on the back of his jacket was green and yellow dragon.

Yirrow noted Riegin's face and nodded. "I believe it was Spedisie." His answer left nothing but confusion in Naruto.

_'Who or what is Spedisie?'_ Naruto thought perplexed, the battle was long forgotten. Yirrow genuinely seemed free from his curse.

"Spedisie? It does sound like him. He had always enjoyed destruction, even to use it as a pass time." Riegin stroked his chin in contemplation. "But now of all times for him to resurface, it surely can't be of coincidence."

"What's so special about now?" Naruto asked, feeling completely left out of the conversation.

"It is the first time in decades that there has been a _**Shēngxiào Entity Summoner**_. I'd would watch yourself Naruto, Spedisie may be targeting you for your status as the summoner. Maybe even more due to the events as to how you became one." Yirrow answered for the both of them.

"You mean because I found the contract gun and Riegin's disc?" Naruto replied, that was his main speculation as to why he felt he had no respect from Riegin, usually a summoner must defeat the spirit in combat in order to have them join them. But he was young when he found the box containing Riegin's disc, not old enough for Riegin to challenge, therefore Riegin had no choice but to join with Naruto as the holder of the Contract Gun, it was probably worse that Riegin was the leader of the 12 Shēngxiào.

Naruto's mind snapped open in recollection, he had not thought about that time for so long, he had forgotten everything about it. He worked in a large mansion as a cook's aid, being orphaned at a young age, the wife of the owner's mansion offered him refuge. He remembered seeing her, the daughter of the owner of the mansion, playing happily with her mother and her mother's spirits. _'Heartfilia! Lucy!'_ Naruto's mind recalled the name of the girl, he had left the mansion the day the wife died seven years ago and had not thought of it since, suddenly the girl he spent four years serving was back in his life. _'Layla-sama, I will protect your daughter no matter what! That is how I will repay my debt to you!'_

"Yirrow." Riegin captured both attentions of Naruto and Yirrow, glaring at Yirrow in a scolding matter. "Under the influence of evil or not, you should never raise a hand against a brother, you should never attack those closest to you."

Yirrow lowered his head in shame. "I understand, I will ensure that Wiin recuperates completely."

"And Naruto," Riegin turned to face him. "I have already said what I needed to say to you, you have not yet earned the right to work with me. Come and face me when you are ready."

"And how will I know when I am ready?" Naruto asked in return, Riegin always spoke about being ready. But never offered any incentive on how to understand that.

Riegin begun to evaporate into a light, returning to the spirit world. "You will know. Remember that I reign over the 12 Shēngxiào, I will not be easy to recruit fully." He finished as he completely vanished.

"Naruto," Yirrow called, Naruto turning to face the Jackal headed man. "Rest assured I will ensure that Wiin recovers fully. And I owe you a debt for freeing me from that curse." Yirrow moved down to one knee, bowing his head respectfully to Naruto, like a servant to a master. "So allow me to join you on your journey as a loyal servant."

"I decline." Naruto replied instantly to the surprise of Yirrow, looking up, he found a warm smile on Naruto's face. "I don't want a servant, but I will have you join me, as a friend and companion."

A smirk grew on Yirrow's own face. "Very well." He uttered, before he began vanishing in a light similar to Riegin, as he disappeared completely, a little platinum disc flicked at Naruto, which he caught in his left hand, one side had the symbol for dog, while the other had a picture of one.

Smiling at the small disc, Naruto looked up in horror at the rumbling of the earth around him, magma bubbled and shot out in the pool in front of him. _'Our fight must have aggravated the __volcano, plus Yirrow used magic in that form, that would have sped up the release of dark magic!'_ Naruto thought, faintly he he could see the magma beginning to rise. _'I need to get out of here!'_

Rising to his feet, Naruto took one step, blinding pain ran up his leg. _'Shit, my leg's broken!'_ Looking toward the exit, he began making agonisingly small steps towards it, making sure not to put to much pressure on his leg. _'I won't get out of here in time!'_

_**I won't let some magma take my kill.**_

Naruto's eyes widened as two hands placed onto his shoulders, he had no time to turn around, a invisible blast forced him through the wall of the volcano like a drill, friction burned his skin around him. But a light came, and he felt free, looking down quickly, he found his body soaring through the air in the direction of the village. He slowly closed his eyes, his body drilling through the rock was too much, he passed out.

* * *

><p>"And that's it, that's all I can remember." Naruto finished, looking at his bandaged hand, inside being the new platinum disc he recovered, smiling, he placed the disc into the bag pouch.<em> 'One more and I will have half of the 12 Shēngxiào.' <em>

"I see, you've gone through a lot. I'm sorry I was unable to help you, perhaps you wouldn't have left with such injuries." Alzack replied sadly.

"It's alright, I'll heal in no time flat. I'm all ready using a magic to heal myself now. _**Ameliorate**_, it's called." Naruto smiled. "Where is everyone else anyway?" He looked around, he had seen no villagers walking passed, Kazen had not come to see them at all.

Smiling, Alzack moved to the front of the hut, pulling back the curtain down. "Their all over there, no longer cowering behind their wall." Naruto looked over in awe, the villagers sat atop the wall, watching the Volcano erupt into the sky, beams of red and orange light firing in many directions, made stronger by the black ash dimming all other light.

"Amazing," Naruto mumbled. "Something so violent and destructive is able to bring people together like that..."

* * *

><p>"450'000J! That's way too much!" Naruto stared at the swollen bag of money on Alzack's back, almost fit to burst at the sheer amount of money it contained. "Simply because you put seats on a wall and I got injured!"<p>

"We will split it accordingly when we're on the train. It's too public out here." Alzack returned, ignoring Naruto's earlier protests of returning to the village and giving most of the money back. Alzack was shocked that after a few days Naruto was once again able to move without problem, his broken leg completely healed, although he still remained bandaged. _'That __**Ameliorate**__ spell of his must work miracles.'_

"Just split it 50-50." Naruto huffed, he didn't like having a lot of money, money made people greedy and only want more of it, so he liked to spend money as much as he could, he grew up on little, so having a lot made him uncomfortable.

"But you are more injured then I am. And your task was significantly harder, therefore you deserve more of the pay, besides you might not be able to work for a while." Alzack responded sternly, pointing to Naruto's bandaged wounds.

"Pfft, this is nothing." Naruto shrugged off Alzack's concerns. "I'll be completely healed by the time we return to Magnolia. Which may I ask how we are going to get back to? Seeing as the train won't come back up here for little over two weeks!"

Alzack only chuckled lightly. "I had the same concern, and was contacted by Mira-san. Apparently, Erza and Natsu messed with the trains at a station on a job whilst dealing with the members of the Dark Guild Eisenwald, causing the schedules to be messed up, so apparently the train is coming earlier now. I'll go get our tickets, will go first class so we can have some privacy as we split the money." Alzack smiled as he went towards the ticket stand, leaving Naruto to stand on the platform.

_'What luck, it appears someone, somewhere is making sure we're not wasting time doing nothing and can move onto our next adventure.'_ Naruto commented in his mind, looking towards the time table, the train should be arriving within 20 minutes.

Bark! Naruto looked down, a small puppy, barely reaching half way up his shin sat at his feet, the top of it's fur was black, while it's under belly with a white beige colour, it barked again, staring up at Naruto, wagging it's tail and panting lightly.

"What's up, dog? Where's your owner?" Naruto nodded towards the puppy, before looking around the platform, hoping to find someone looking for the dog. The dog barked again, rubbing it's body gently against Naruto's leg, stroking it's fur against it. "No, no, no, you need to find your owner, now scoot." Naruto pushed the dog away gently with his foot, the dog slid across the floor, it's claws digging into the ground trying to stop the movement.

"_Naruto, it is I, Yirrow."_ Naruto's eyes widened. Looking around for the spirit.

"Where are you?" Naruto called out, staring in all directions.

"_Down here."_ Yirrow's voice called again, it leading Naruto to stare down at the small dog, immediately Naruto's brow rose in an amused surprise.

"Yirrow? Is that you?" Naruto scoffed in amusement, looking down at the small dog at his feet.

"_Yes. This is my true form."_ Yirrow responded telepathically, nodding his small head. _"I worry for __my owner's safety so much that I adopted this form in order to be by their side at all times, to spring into battle should they need my assistance. I will make sure you are safe from any danger."_

"That's pretty cool." Naruto smiled widely at the small dog. "To be able to change you're form like that, is that a common trait I wonder? Elife can also change her size when she fights. And Riegin Requips his armour" Naruto mused, he wondered if Riegin could actually morph into a real Dragon.

Shaking the thoughts from his head, Naruto smiled down towards the mini Yirrow. "I guess that's fine, it will probably be good to have someone to talk to whilst on job."

"Naruto, I got your ticket." Alzack returned, passing a ticket to Naruto, instantly Alzack caught sight at the dog at Naruto's feet. "Whose dog is that?"

"I think it's a stray." Naruto lied. "It approached me looking for food, I can't just leave it here. So I'm going to keep it." Naruto smiled, picking up the dog.

"Okay." Alzack shrugged, wondering why Naruto was trying to justify his point so much. "It's not against the law for you to have a dog, you know? So what are you going to call him?"

"Yirrow." Naruto replied with a smile, it saved him having to lie about a new name for the spirit.

"Yirrow. An interesting name." Alzack nodded, the train arrived and they boarded it through the doors. "Let's go home. I'd like to see Fairy Tail again."

* * *

><p><strong>AN:** Yo! Rinne here after an abysmal chapter 3 to give you chapter 4, the explanation chapter. basically everything that went down with Naruto during Chapter 3 as that kinda focused on Alzack. Anyways I'm quite pleased with how this turned out, met some interesting characters like Yirrow and Riegin, as well as developed a villain and Wiin some more. I'll explain a few things that happened over the course of this chapter now:

Number 1 - Spirit Death: Yeah I don't think they can die, but during the Loke arc Loke was dying, he was fading into nothingness, I think that that is pretty important, as spirits are living things, so surely death must be able to claim them in one way or another.

Number 2 - Naruto-Lucy backstory - Made that up on the fly as I was writing this chapter, I think it will be good for future chapters, as he made a promise to Layla to keep Lucy safe, but had repressed memories of that time for so long he forgot about it.

Number 3 - Spedi-who?: Who is Spedisie? Is it Mr. Garrison? Jimbo? Chef? Or is he the 1995 Denver Broncos? No seriously, Spedisie is an important character and actually made his debut last chapter at the end? Trying to think of some abilities for him and he will be recurring until otherwise, but I have an interesting magic for him and a good backstory as to his villainousness...

Number 4 - Naruto's other magic: A lot of people were like 'oh this is just an OC with the name Naruto in order to up viewings, there's no real mix of both the worlds.' Well there you go, as I planned when chapter 2 came out, I was incorporating the Rasengan and the Hiraishin into this fic. I hope Rasen still means spiralling and Gan means sphere when they are separated?

Pictures of Yirrow's three forms, cursed, pure and worry are on my profile as well as Riegin's armour, I have to thank Agurra of the Darkness for giving me a character design without the armour.

As this was going down so was the Eisenwald arc for those who were interested, so when Naruto returns it will be the Galuna Arc which I still trying to decide whether or not he should go on.

_**Proper pronunciation**_

_Yirrow (Year-oh)_

_Spedisie (Speh-dis-eh)_

A run down of Magics

Naruto

_**Rasen: Uses Pure concentrated magic instead of channeling it into an element.**_  
>Gan (Sphere) - The Rasengan basically<br>Tama (Bullet) - fires smaller versions of the Gan that are fired from the fingertips, the smaller size increase the speed but lower the power.

_**Flash Step - A teleportation spell that can cross distances in the blink of an eye**_  
>Sky Soaring Leap - The user teleports upwards into the air, flying above the opponent<p>

Wiin

_**Claw: A Bone Magic that causes spikes of bone to protrude from any part of the skeleton out of the skin to attack with**_  
>Iron Maiden - Covers the arms, torso and front of the legs in bone spikes to ensnare and trap the opponent, holding them in place.<p>

_**Burst: A magic that increases the speed and strength of the user to unrivaled levels. The downside is that it can only be used for eight seconds at a time and must wait one minute recovery time before being used again. (I remember watching something that said that once a Tiger is hunting and chases it's prey that for eight or so seconds it's explosive speed makes it the fastest animal on the planet or something, that was the inspiration)**_

Riegin

**_Tenki (Weather): Controls all aspects of the weather, Sunlight, Rain, Snow, Hail, Fog and even Meteor/Comet showers_**  
>Absolving Supernova - Collects and concentrates sunlight into one explosive attack that fills a wide area.<p>

Well anything else? Oh yeah, I'm gonna make a poll for which Chinese Zodiac spirit should be debuted next? The poll should already be up I believe so cast your vote. I'll give the poll one week then I'm taking it down so I can start planning the next chapters with it.

Til Next Time,

Rinne-Kami, Out!


	5. House Hunting

"Naruto, there is something I must speak with you about, something about that magic you used to defeat me in my cursed form. We must speak about it later." Yirrow's small puppy like form spoke telepathically.

Naruto nodded in the direction of the small dog, not wanting to look crazy by beginning to suddenly speak to his dog in front of Alzack, but was also unsure Yirrow could read his thoughts as well.

The bandages Naruto had worn to mask his injuries had been discarded, he no long had any need for them as his wounds were completely healed, he and Alzack moved at a leisurely pace towards the Fairy Tail building, the front door entrance close in sight.

As they approached the door it had finally dawned on Naruto how much he and Alzack had in common, both came to Fiore from elsewhere, with no money or no family in sight, both strived to become something better than they were and the most obvious they both used guns as a source of their magic. Naruto had found a valued friend in Alzack, one of his first ever.

They both stopped at the front doors before opening them, turning to one another with smiles on their faces. Their hands slapped together, gripping each other's hand. "Farewell, Naruto. Thank you for the journey we shared together. Maybe one day we can work together on a job again." Alzack laughed lightly, shaking Naruto's hand once.

Naruto laughed in responce. "Yeah I'd like that as well, maybe something that isn't as life threatening next time!" Naruto laughed a little harder, flashing both sets of his white teeth. Alzack laughed himself before waving a final goodbye, making his way into the guild and heading directly towards a long green haired cowgirl.

"Yirrow." Naruto squatted down to the dog's height. "I need you to go back to the Spirit world for a while. I don't want to much attention I'm going house hunting later. My chances of getting a decent place might drop if I have a pet with me."

"Of course. But we must talk later." Yirrow nodded, before poofing out of this world and back to his own.

Smiling Naruto stood up, clicking his neck he walked into the guild. The mages still chatting away with each other. Naruto headed straight towards the barmaid Mirajane. "Hey Mira-san, me and Alzack are back from our job." he smiled and waved towards her, before handing her a bag. "The guild's cut of the pay." He informed her of the bag's content.

"Ah, hello Naruto, well I just mark you and Alzack as 'returned alive'." Mira chimed happily, taking the bag of Jewels, Naruto sighed in relaxation, it was good to be back.

His eyes darted to the left, a few stools down the bar sat Lucy, moping sadily with her head in her arms a free hand playing with a straw in a drink while she stared at it intently.

"Lucy?" Naruto approached her with a gentle smile, she responded to his call by her eyes shifting towards him.

"Hey, Naruto. Where have you been? When I came back from my job with Natsu, Mira had told me that you had gone on a job." Lucy mumbled into her arm, but Naruto was still able to comprehend what she was saying.

"Yeah I was on a job with Alzack in a place called Maguma." Naruto chuckled, scratching the back of his head as he sat down next to Lucy.

"Really? How was it?" Lucy asked with a tang of more interest now, looking away from her drink again to sit up right and look at Naruto.

"It was... eventful." Naruto chuckled again, smiling at her. "But enough about me, what about you? You seemed sad about something?"

"It's just..." Lucy sighed again, before moping down on the bar counter again. "I have no money to rent an apartment." She began crying, tears pooling down her face. "I'm gonna be homeless!" She wailed out.

Her crying stopped when Naruto laughed, wiping the tears away she looked at him with a mixture of confusion and anger, why was he laughing about her misery.

"If you need a place to stay for a while, then you can stay with me." Naruto smiled widely at her, he remembered his promise to Layla years ago, he would make sure Lucy was safe.

Lucy's eyes widened in surprise. "No no no no no I couldn't possibly intrude!" She shook her head in refusal, it was a very nice offer. But she left home to be independent, to explore the world, she didn't want someone to lean onto constantly.

"Well if not you can at least come house hunting with me." She looked at Naruto again in confusion. "Remember I've just come to town myself, I need to find a place as well. And maybe while we search for a place for me we can find a place for you, if not then you're welcome to stay with me for a while."

Lucy blushed, it wasn't a bad idea. She could find a nice place and price through Naruto then get the money to rent it. "Okay, let's go."

* * *

><p>Naruto and Lucy approached the next house in an awkward silence, neither of them had said anything to bring upon this silence, rather, it was what the weren't saying. For the eleventh time today they heard the phrase ushered by the landlords; 'This will be the perfect place for a young couple such as yourselves'. There were occaisional variations, the most common were from male landlords, who praised Naruto. He wasn't sure what for, so he gently diffused the situation by explaining that they were only friends.<p>

What made it even more awkward that the amount of times they had to dismiss the idea of there being any relationship between them made it appear as if they were embarassed to be seen with each other.

Thus they now walked in silence, both unsure of what to say. Their feet trodded along the pavement in unison, walking towards the next apartment.

"How many more apartments are there to look at?" Lucy broke the silence between them with a valid question, they had just left the fifteenth potential apartment.

"Not many more, think about three, maybe four?" Naruto responded, a faint, almost forced smile on his face.

They approached the next apartment building, roughly around five storeys high, it was nestled in the middle of Mango Row, which led down to Strawberry Street and wasn't too far from Fairy Tail, from the outside it looked like a stretched out cottage, but most importantly there was a sign reading apartment vacancies being displayed in the window. They entered through the front door and into the lobby. The found the landlord's front dexk and approached it. There sat a little old lady, a rocking chair instead of any type of formal seating. A cat had nestled itself comfortably on her lap, giving off a content purr as she stroked it's fur gently.

"Hello. I saw your advertisement for vacancies in your window." Naruto approached her with a gentle voice and gentle smile on his face.

"Of course. Well there is only one room left, if you'd like I can give you a tour of the room before you officially apply." The old woman gently smiled back. "The name is Martha by the way."

"My name is Naruto." Naruto responded with a small bow of the head. The old woman slowly got out of her seat and asked Naruto to follow her, Lucy following behind Naruto. They climbed a few flights of stairs, arriving on the fourth floor.

Placing a key in the lock of room 4D, Martha opened the door, Naruto and Lucy walked into the room, gazing around at it. In short, it was downright enormous, and this was only the front room. The walls were a plain Magnolia colour, and the carpet was a pale beige, with a fireplace set against a wall. Large windows allowed the sun's light into the room, Lucy moved over to them quickly staring out of the window to check out the view. Martha closed the door behind her before walking next to Naruto. "The fourth and fifth floors are a different style to the ground, first, second and third floors. These two floors go for size instead of room numbers, quality over quantity so to speak." Martha chuckled at her own little joke, before moving forwards. "To the left is the kitchen, and next to the kitchen is the bathroom. The living area can also be used as a dining area," Martha pointed to the two closed doors. She then turned to face the right, where Naruto and Lucy found in stead of rooms there was a corridor, not large, but still a corridor. "there are three doors down the corridor. One leads to the Master Bedroom, which is complete with a built in wardrobe and En suite. On the opposite side is the guest room, and next to the guest room is the door to the balcony."

"Wow, this is amazing..." Lucy sighed in wonder as she stared out of the window, Naruto moved to stand next to her. The river flowed gently just below them, and in the distance the sea could be seen colliding with the sky. Blues clashed together in an array of colour. "Definately the best apartment we've seen today." She whispered to Naruto, Martha heard however, chuckling slightly and offering gratitude to Lucy. "How much is the rent?"

"The rent for this room is set at 450'000J." Martha said with an apparant sigh, it seemed she didn't like to be asked this question. "However, I like you two, you both seem very happy, and at this rate I'll never get anyone to take this room. So I'm willing to offer you the room for 350'000J?"

"I'll still never be able to affor that!" Lucy cried out, tears pouring from her eyes. "And I really liked this place. Come on, Naruto, let's go." She sniffled out as she hung her head low, shuffling out the room as slowly as possible in a depressed state.

Martha looked sadly at the blond girl leave, but noticed the confused look on the blond boy's face. "What is it, lad?" She asked curiously.

Naruto watched Lucy leave with a confused expression. "It seems that she forgot we were looking for a place for _me_."

* * *

><p>"Lucy, wait up!" Naruto ran after the blond girl, she stopped to stare at him blankly. Naruto stopped just in front of her, beaming widely at her, both sets of teeth almost reflecting the sun back off them.<p>

"Oh Naruto, what's up?" She asked curiously, dropping her blank expression. She took a step back when Naruto's arm rose quickly, holding a key betweenb his fingers. "What's this?"

"The spare key to my new apartment!" Naruto grinned sheepishly, which was followed by a childish chuckle.

"You got the apartment?" Lucy asked in surprise, she had completely gorgot that they were looking for apartments for Naruto and not her. Plus she wasn't surprised that he could afford it, seeing as he throws away money like it was nothing.

"I got the apartment." Naruto nodded his head back and forth quickly, before straightening himself out, holding the key in the palm of his hand. "And I want you to have the spare key to it." He spoke a bit more seriously.

"But why?" Lucy asked scrupulously, it wasn't normal for someone to just give you the key to their house.

"Because, travelling around like I do you meet a lot of people, but you don't really make friends. You're one of the first real friends I've had in a while, so if you ever needed a place to stay or just someone to talk to you can just drop by." Naruto smiled softly, his eyes gazing deeply into Lucy's, before coughing, his eyes shifting around. "Also, I'm terrible for losing keys, a habit I expect that you don't share." Naruto chuckled lightly, his eyes darting to Lucy's belt where her Summon Keys dangled.

Lucy giggled lightly, getting the joke. "Alright Naruto." She spoke quietly, a tint of red on her cheeks as she took the key from his hand, placing it in the small bag on her belt at her waist. "So what do you want to do now?"

"You wanna get something to eat, this house hunting thing's getting me hungry. Then I guess I better go furniture shopping." Naruto scratched the side of his face, he didn't like shopping at the best of times, but these were essential items. The only things that were in his apartments were two beds and a sofa, things he intended to replace.

'_Get something to eat?_' Lucy's imagination began taking over her logic. She imagined them going to a quiet restaurant, chatting, he make her laugh, then his hand would gently envelope hers on the table, the pad of his thumb gently stroking the skin on her hand. A perfect dinner date. _'Date?'_ Her eyes widened, he was basically asking her on a date, and Naruto had been so nice to her, she couldn't possibly refuse._ 'And why wouldn't I, Naruto is smart, well travelled, funny, strong, loyal, not to mention cute.' _A small smile grew on her face, blushing even further she answered. "O-Okay."

"Great, then let's go!" Naruto winked, pointing in the direction behind him. "As we were walking to the apartment building I kept hearing people talk highly of this little restaurant. So might as well follow the word of mouth, eh?" Naruto smiled widely, taking her by the hand he led her in the direction of the restaurant.

* * *

><p>"Wow, that really was good!" Naruto sighed contently, now sipping away at a cup of coffee. He and Lucy had finished their meals, Lucy insisted on paying, but Naruto paid with the excuse that since he asked her he should be the one to pay. "Lucy, it has been bugging me for some time now, so I was wondering if I could ask you something?" Naruto spoke quite seriously, but still in a friendly tone.<p>

"Of course Naruto, ask away." Lucy responded cheerfully, sipping away at her own coffee.

"Heartfilia, it's a pretty unique last name. I've only ever heard it somewhere else. Heartfilia Konzern..." Naruto let his voice roll on there, seeing the reaction on Lucy's face.

Lucy's cheerfulness faded, she looked down sadly at her coffee, so Naruto knew of Heartfilia Konzern. She couldn't deny it now, he wouldn't have brought it up if he wasn't suspiscious about her relation to it. "I'm the daughter of the owner..." Lucy finally responded in a dead tone, this would change everything, no one at Fairy Tail would look at her the same, Naruto wouldn't look at her the same, word would get to her father where she was and he will have her brought back to the estate to be married off to some guy.

"I see..." Naruto nodded. _'So it's definately her and not just some cruel coincidence.'_

"I hated my life there." Lucy suddenly continued to Naruto's surprise. "It was awful, to be neglected by someone who was supposed to love, to know that there was no freedom in your life. To waste away each day until the day came when you were practically sold off to someone in order to marry them just to improve your father's business. No, I ran away from it all. I didn't need the money in order to be happy. I just wanted to be free."

_'It's best if she doesn't know of my relation to her then...'_ Naruto decided inwardly. If Lucy knew that he once worked for her father she might assume that he is only helping her because his servant side was resurfacing around her.

Lucy felt like crying again, a single tear drop from her eye, dripping into her coffee, she felt another tear forming. But was surprised at the sudden weight on the hand she had laid on the table. Looking towards it she found another hand laid on top of it, the thumb gently stroking against her hand. Looking up Naruto was looking at her with a serene smile.

"I'll keep your secret safe. I promise." He leaned forwards, with his free hand wiping away the tear about to drip down her face. "And I never go back on my promises." He smiled more widely, his other hand now resting on Lucy's cheek.

Lucy's blush resurfaced, almost subconsciously snuggling her cheek into his hand. _'His hand's are so warm...'_

She almost moaned with disappointment when Naruto retracted both his hands, leaning back into his chair to sip his coffee again. Lucy stared at him for a what felt like hours, until she noticed a few sets of eyes staring at her from the left.

Her eyes darted to see, sat at a table to the left were a group of females, obviously around her age, staring angrily at her, their teeths gritted together, letting out tuts of frustration. Lucy wondered what the problem was, she has never seen any of them before in her life.

"Look at that guy. What's she got that we don't have?" She finally heard one say to loudly, her voice filled to the brim with jealousy.

"I know. He's totally a hunk, he should be with me!"

"No he should be with me. Seriously, what's he doing with her anyway?"

"I can see two pretty big reasons just below her neck!"

Lucy's face fell again. "You want to leave?" Lucy looked towards Naruto, who appeared irritated. His eyes darted over to the group of females. He had heard them two. Lucy nodded quickly, Naruto placed money on their table and promptly left with Lucy, exiting the restaurant without giving the group of females so much as a second glance, ignoring their attempts to get his attention.

* * *

><p>"I'm sorry about those girls, Lucy." Naruto lookedup at Lucy apologetically.<p>

"It's okay, it wasn't your fault anyway." Lucy responded, now standing taller than Naruto as a result of walking along the wall barricade people from falling into the river. She enjoyed doing it despite passerby boatmen warning her not to. Walking in pace with the flowing water relaxed her.

"I should ask, Lucy, as a Spirit Summoner to Spirit Summoner. How do you see your spirits?" Naruto asked in intrigue, her answer could quite possibly make or break his opinion about her.

"My spirits are my friends, my trusted partners. They are living, breathing, feeling things to. They are not slaves to be used and then thrown away like garbage. My spirits and I fight as one!" Lucy replied confidently.

"I couldn't have said it better myself." Naruto smiled, completely satisfied with ehr answer. "Have you got any new spirits?"

"Yes! I got the Maiden, Virgo." Lucy chimed happily, fondly remembering signing a contract with them. "What about you? Your summon magic is a mystery to me. What spirits do you have? And how do you make contracts with them?"

"We don't make contracts." Naruto replied honestly. "The spirit issues a challenge to the summoner, anything that the spirit desires to be challenged. When I found Wiin I had to beat him in combat. Leiru's challenge was to beat him in a game of Shogi. If you succeed in their challenge you gain their trust and they offer their services to you, but I usually refuse their servitude and only ask for their companionship in life and in battle. Then the summoner can summon a spirit at anytime he wants really. As for my number of spirits, I found my fifth one a couple of days ago. Yirrow the Dog." Naruto explained.

"And what is his abilities?" Lucy asked in interest, she hadn't seen any of Naruto's spirits abilities other than Wiin's superhuman strength and speed.

"I'm not sure yet. He can change his form, but I'm not sure if that's unique to him or a shared trait amongst all the spirits." Naruto replied honestly, still sometimes imagining the Dragon that Riegin could possibly become.

"I see..." Lucy nodded, Naruto didn't really explain much. She turned to look at the water again, staring down intensely at her reflection.

As she stepped forward, she didn't notice a small puddle of water on the wall, mostly likely splashed on by a passing boat, with her attention focused on the water, she stepped on it, he boots slipped on the water. Lucy felt herself topple to the left, looking down, she could only see the river below her. She was about to scream but she felt herself stop falling, looking to see the cause, Naruto, in an instant had grabbed her hand, saving her from falling. Pulling her back onto the ground, she stumbled again, falling towards Naruto, but once again Naruto catched her, but failed to stop the momentum, she pushed him back, while he held onto her, causing her to be pressed right up against him.

"Easy." Naruto chuckled lightly, his hands placed supportively on her waist.

Lucy looked back up to him, he gazed down, his deep blue eyes meeting her brown ones, a larger smile formed on his face. And Lucy couldn't help but wonder why their contact felt so right. Naruto continued smiling as he helped her return to her feet properly, letting go to allow her to walk again.

"Right, we should probably hit those furniture stores, before it get's too dark." Naruto spoke aloud, looking up to the faint orange in the sky. Smiling to Lucy, who nodded, both made their way quickly to the shopping district of town.

* * *

><p>For the first time in a while Naruto and Lucy both felt spoiled. Both of them held bags full of new clothes and other essentials, like towels, food and toiletries . Naruto buying new clothes for himself and for Lucy, against he reluctance. "Well the furniture will be delivered tomorrow, so I will have to stay in tomorrow to make sure I'm there. Actually it'll be pretty good to relax before I take another job." Naruto laughed.<p>

"Yeah it would be, unfortunately I have to go on a job so I can get money to rent my own place to put all this stuff." Lucy shook the bags of clothes in her hands.

"Well why don't you keep them at my place? You can even stay there a couple of days while you save money to find your own apartment, if anything I probably won't be there as much when I start taking more jobs." Naruto offered again. "Please it'll put me at ease to atleast you have a roof over your head."

"Alright Naruto, but just for a couple of days!" Lucy said sternly. Naruto was surprisingly convincing, and it was sweet how much he cared for her.

"Just for a couple of days." Naruto nodded, they were already making their way towards his new apartment anyways, and it was getting dark. Lucy probably would have asked to stay there anyways. he was surprised to find that they were not far from his apartment.

They were quickly at his apartment before the sun had even fully set, natural light still breaking through at it's minimum. They were up the stairs and at Naruto's apartment. Naruto opening the door and allowing Lucy in.

"Well all in all I've had a pretty fun day, thank you Naruto." Lucy smiled widely at Naruto, who returned an even bigger one.

"So did I. We should do this sometime in the future." Naruto laughed, before an idea formed in his head. "Hey, how about you come with me on my next job?"

Lucy mused the offer. "What was your last job again?"

"Climbing inside a volcano when it is about to erupt in order to defeat a demon." Naruto spoke quickly and as if it was nothing.

Lucy's entire body shivered with fear. "N-N-No thanks. That's way to dangerous for my like. Oh and I had promised Natsu I would go on some mystery job that he planned to get. Sorry." She looked at Naruto apologetically.

"No problem, if it's not for you, it's not for you. Well your welcome to stay tomorrow and help me decorate, although I must apologise for the lack of things to do." Naruto chuckled again, he had nothing to entertain themselves with.

"It's alright, I'm gonna go sort out all these new clothes." Lucy spoke with excitement, heading off towards the guest room. She looked over her shoulder before entering. "Thanks for this Naruto, for everything. If it wasn't for you, I'd probably have never even found Fairy Tail." She gave one more sincere smile before entering the room, closing the door behind her.

Naruto smiled to her as she entered the room, as soon as the door closed he sigh. Looking around, he liked his new apartment, it was spacious, relaxing. "Pretty good find. Guess I better get these things unpacked." He moved towards the kitchen, dealing with the food first. _'I've had fun today, nothing could possibly have ruined it.'_

* * *

><p>A lone man walked leisurely through a cave, strolling within the shadows without fear, as if he was a shadow himself, his hand gently feeling the wall of the cave. No fire or lanterns were used to light his way, he remained solely in the darkness.<p>

And one person was on his mind, throughout his entire journey that blond mage plagued his mind. _'Naruto, the fact that you have signed Leiru to you concerns me. When I heard that a new Shēngxiào spirit summoner had surfaced I had hoped we could be partners. And with Riegin in your arsenal as well, convincing you to join me will be troublesome.'_ The lone person thought, after seeing Naruto battle against the monstrous Yirrow he had become fixated on him, he needed the power Naruto possessed.

"Ah, here we are." He spoke aloud in a cheerful tone, snapping his fingers loudly, lanterns of fire grew along the sides of the walls, enveloping the room he was in with light.

It was a large circular room, incredibly large, almost as large as Yirrow's chamber in the volcano. It was filled with stone statues of gargoyles, some perfectly shaped with detail down to wrinkles or chipped claws, others, not so perfect deformed shapes with one arm larger than the other.

However the bulk of the statues rested in two forms, one set of Gargoyles were about 6 feet tall with large, menacing, bat-like wings, their mouths agape with their fangs baring, their eyes forming sinister, pupilless stares of fury, claws were bared and ready to rip apart flesh. There was no clothing detailed on this form, allowing the detail of a bony body to shine through.

The second form was much larger, standing an impressive 10 feet tall with a bulky physique, these statues stood dressed in a glorious knight's armour, dressed from the neck down in armour detail befitting a royal warrior, however the face was still exposed, like the previous form, the mouth was agape with fangs bared, accursed fury filled eyes, bald head and pointy ears. Instead of wings these statues held a variety of stone weapons, stone axes, stone swords, stone pole-arms, stone spears, stone maces, and even stone scythes.

The single living person in the room looked around with a satisfied look on his face, like a thief after stealing a prized jewel. "What on earth is that?" His face fell as he turned completely around, only staring in astonishment at what was in front of him.

A set of stairs had been carved into the cave, the man was surprised at how he managed to miss this when he first entered the room.

Sat atop the stairs was a massive throne, and on the throne was the largest statue yet, at least 25 feet tall, filling the throne seat perfectly, forearms resting on the arm rests, the left hand dug into the end of the arm rest, cracks appearing in the throne around the fingers. In it's right hand was a large sceptre, topped with a hammer like ball. It was dressed similarly to the large set of statues, dressed up to the neck with armour detailing, however their were two extra add ons, one was a large stone cape, which flooded lazily over the throne on which this stone statue sat, the other feature was around it's bald skull was a crown of spikes, the detail was immaculate, it appeared as if the spikes of the crown were digging into and pulling the skin on it's head, stretching and pulling the skin. This enormous statue possessed the same facial characteristic detailing as the other two forms of gargoyles, yet this one possessed a more regal quality to it as well.

"So you're the king of these things, are you?" The man spoke to the largest statue with a smirk on his face, he bowed jokingly towards the stone statue. "Well I must say what excellent craftsmanship this is." The man looked around at all the gargoyles, even the deformed ones were immaculate, masterful works in progress. "To think that these were hidden within the Drifting Mountains, with no one to ever witness their beauty. Although, I wonder where the sculptor of such masterpieces is?" The man looked around with interest, checking to see if there was any passageways from this room other than the one he came from. They were, but the light from the fire surely would have alerted someone, yet no one came.

The man shrugged his shoulders impassively. "Oh well, doesn't bother me, means there's more toys for me to play with then." He flash a Cheshire grin, staring at the Gargoyles, his new 'toys'. He moved back to the front of this Gargoyle army, standing in front of it's king and soldiers. He waved his hand across the entire room and uttered only one word.

_**Breathe.**_

The once stone eyes morphed to two different colours, the right eye changed to a dark, yet vivid blue while the left morphed to a glowing, ominous yellow, the stone crumbled and cracked and the limbs of the stone gargoyles began to move, breaking from their original positions, the king sat on the throne and clicked his neck. The soldiers faces grew even darker, their brows burrowing further.

The gargoyles screamed and screeched and roared with life, all in the same high pitched tone, yet the noise emitted from them was not enough to mask the shrieks of hysteric laughter, the single man stood in front of them, arms wide and head back, laughing maniacally. He breathed in deeply after laughing, before screeching with laughter again.

"OH THIS IS GOING TO BE FUN!"

* * *

><p><strong>AN:** Yo! Rinne here, well this chapter just dragged on for me, so hard to write, but I'm glad it's out of the way, at this moment we are at the start of the Galuna Island arc, which Naruto will not be participating in, I'm trying to take him away from the minor arcs like Galuna and stuff.

Guy at the end was obviously Spedisie. But where was he and what was he doing? The Drifting Mountains? What's up with that? And those statues he was after, huh? All will be revealed in time, so stay tuned.

If you have read my A/N on Fairy Tail Utopia you will understand what I am doing, so I am taking some time to write the plans for both sides of Fairy Tail Utopia, the current one, hereby renamed Fairy Tail Utopia: Embrace The Light, and the new alternative version; Fairy Tail Utopia: From The Darkness. Correct me if I'm wrong but I don't think an authour has done two alternate version of the same fic, or at least I haven't found one yet.

However that is not about this fic, this fic I will be planning the next couple of chapters while also writing a key chapter for later on, so expect an update soon, probably should update my other fics as well, but I just haven't had the urge you know? other than for To Become A Master.

Til Next Time,

Rinne-Kami, Out!


	6. The Drifting Mountains

Naruto stood in the middle of his lounge, smiling and looking proudly around the room. All the furniture had arrived included a massive 98'' Lacrima powered TV, two black leather couches and a very light blue rug to be laid in front of the couches. He had painted the walls his favourite colour; orange. New beds and wardrobes had been brought in and everything was in perfect place. _'Yep, I'm gonna like it here...'_

"The place looks amazing Naruto..." Lucy smiled happily, it was cute seeing Naruto beam like a little kid. It seemed he really loved this new place.

"Yeah... but remember, if you ever need a place to stay just drop by. You're always welcome here." Naruto gave a more serene, soft smile towards her.

It caused Lucy to tremble slightly, she couldn't keep looking at him in the eyes. She looked away, staring at the floor to the left of her. "Thanks..." She muttered, until she saw something that caught her eye. A small bag leaning against the wall in the lounge. She approached it and picked it up, tipping out the contents.

It was Naruto platinum discs. "Naruto, you're summon discs are here." She told him. She looked at each one carefully, each disc he possessed had the symbol of the animal summon, as well as a picture. _'Let's see. There's a Rat, that was Leiru. Tiger, Wiin. Dog, that could have been who he went off with for a couple of hours to train with, Yirrow was his name? Snake, that must be Elife. And...'_ Lucy's eyes went wide at the last disc. "There's a Dragon Summon!" She near screamed in surprise.

Naruto rushed over to her quickly, snatching the discs and pouch. "I'm sorry, but these are my most prized possessions. I don't like other people touching them." He smiled weakly, placing his discs back in his bag.

"H-How can their be a Dragon summon?" Lucy asked nervously, Natsu would go berserk if he would to hear of this.

"I don't know. I've heard very few things about them. I only know that there is also a Horse, Ox and Monkey, I don't really know what animals the others are. But I guess that just makes it all the better surprise when I find them!" Naruto laughed, beaming widely again as he went to the couch, jumping onto it lazily, sprawling himself out on it.

"Naruto..." Lucy called him, sitting on the other couch, waiting for his 'hmm' of a reply. "You've travelled around a lot right, have you heard anything about the Gold Celestial Keys?"

Naruto's upper body slowly rose back up, his eyes meeting hers. He seemed apologetic. "Uhh...no. They didn't really concern me, so I didn't bother looking for them."

"Oh... okay then.." Lucy smiled half heartedly, she was let down. She was hoping he would have hundreds of rumours to tell her about them, like their locations, who has them, what they can do.

"Although..." Naruto continued, Lucy's eyes lit up slightly. "I did hear something about one of them..."

"Which one?" Lucy spoke in an eager, giddy voice, crossing her legs onto the couch and sitting with her hands planted firmly on her knees.

"I think it was called; Ophiuchur, Ophiuchal, Ophiuchus, yeah definitely Ophiuchus?" Naruto spoke with his face crumpled up, his memory slightly hazy on the subject, it was a while since he thought about it

"Really? Are you sure?" Lucy asked curiously, her eyebrow rose in suspicion.

"Yeah, definitely Ophiuchus. The Golden Zodiac Key Ophiuchus. That's the one!" Naruto grinned widely, flashing both sets of teeth. It felt good to help.

"Then you probably heard a lie." And with that short sentence from Lucy, Naruto's face fell. "There's no Golden Zodiac called Ophiuchus. The twelve are called; The Water Bearer, Aquarius. The Ram, Aries. The Lion, Leo. The Bull, Taurus. The Crab, Cancer. The Twins, Gemini. The Maiden, Virgo. The Scales, Libra. The Fish, Pisces. The Goat, Capricorn. The Archer, Sagittarius. And The Scorpion, Scorpio. There's nothing about an Ophiuchus."

Naruto shrugged his shoulders, his lower lip jutting out. "That's just what I heard. If it was just a lie or a rumour then forget about it."

"Where did you hear it?" Lucy asked, still curious about this Ophiuchus.

"When I was in Sin." Naruto replied honestly, his answer was met with a confused stare from the blond Lucy. Staring at him like he was crazy. Naruto quickly hopped off the couch and went to his bag. Pulling out a massive map of their continent. He pointed to a small country right to the eastern border of the continent, south of the massive Pergrande Kingdom. "The country Sin." He noted again.

Lucy looked in wonder at the map. Sin was on the other side of the continent. Naruto had really travelled all the way to there and back? She was scared to runaway from home, even though she was staying in Fiore. Naruto travelled right across the continent by himself and it was as if he didn't have a care in the world. "I can't believe it's on the other side of the continent..."

"If you want one day we'll take a trip to Sin and look up this Ophiuchus in more detail." Naruto jokingly laughed. Sitting down again and melting into a relaxed position.

* * *

><p>"<em>Naruto, please don't tell anyone about the job me and Natsu are going on or we'll be in really big trouble!"<em>

Naruto remembered the pleading tone to Lucy's voice when she said that to him. '_I promise I'll keep it a secret, although I better get out of here myself so they can't question me about it.' _Naruto smiled awkwardly to himself, his eyes darting around the guild before staring back up at the Job Notice board. Looking for a job that might interest him.

"Hey! You're Naru-san, right?" A slightly short teen aged girl with wavy blue hair and a slender smiled widely at him. Her hair was tied back by a light yellow ribbon. She wore an orange shirt that went down to her mid section, leaving her naval exposed with a blue, short sleeved jacket over it going to a similar length. Her legs were covered by white pants that went down past her knees, that were rolled up at the edges.

"Er yeah, who are you?" Naruto eyed the girl up carefully, he didn't have the slightest clue who this girl was and she was already giving him a nickname.

"My name's Levy McGarden, I'm friends with Lucy, although I just call her Lu-chan!" The blue haired girl now identified as Levy chimed happily. "Lu-chan's spoken about before, seeing I can't find her anywhere, I figured I'd just introduce myself!"

"Well hey, Levy. The name's Naruto Namikaze!" Naruto beamed widely back at the blue haired girl, until he heard a jealous grumbling behind him, and it seemed to echo. Naruto turned to see the cause. Two boys, standing around the same height, if not taller stood there glaring jealously at him. One was a slim man. His black eyes were narrowed scornfully, he also sported an unusual hairstyle for his black hair. It appeared to be like a stem of a plant, it drooped downwards as his head was tilting forwards. He wears a plain long-sleeved shirt and dark green chequered pants and a yellow belt like garment going around his neck.

The other was also a young, slim man with orange hair. His mouth had opened whilst he growled jealously, revealing some slightly misshapen teeth. A small, protruding, triangular-shaped molar, upper left molar, along with a chipped portion on the lower row corresponding it. He wore a brown coat with cottony necklines that fall down to his thighs, a violet shirt underneath, and dark pants that are tucked inside tight, black boots. The top of his head was tipped with a fancy hat.

"Can I help you?..." Naruto asked incredulously, staring at the two grumbling boys with a raised eyebrow.

"These are Droy and Jet!" Levy beamed, running around to throw her arms around their necks. Naruto noticed how they both seemed to loosen up with the physical contact with the girl. "We're in a team together, we're called Shadow Gear. We've been a team for a long time."

"Cool, what's up Jet and Droy?" Naruto nodded his head towards both of them, giving them a smaller smile than he would usually give strangers. He didn't like the way they were treating him at first.

"Nothing much." They both seemed grumbled back together in an annoyed tone. Levy suddenly brought the duo down to her height by the ears. Before whispering something to them so quietly Naruto couldn't hear. Naruto went into surprise when both of their faces lightened up, they grinned as wide as he usually would, both of them throwing an arm around his neck. "How are you, Naruto? Shadow Gear was just about to go on a job, and Levy wanted to ask if you would like to come along seeing as you and her are both friends of Lucy. She wants to get to know you better!" They both spoke in incredibly happy, excited voices. As if they were both told the greatest news ever.

"And where's this job taking place at?" Naruto asked all three of them, but only really needed an answer from one. He looked more towards Levy for the answer, these two guys just seemed annoying.

"The Drifting Mountains!" Levy smiled again, catching Naruto's surprised expression. "I'm guessing by the look on your face you've heard about them?"

"Yeah," Naruto replied, freeing himself from the grip of Jet and Droy. "They're a mountain range that have a faster than normal tectonic activity rate. Causing them to move faster than the rest of the land, making it look as if they are moving by themselves. I've always wanted to see them, but never had the chance."

"Well here's your chance!" Levy beamed widely, waving a job notice in front of his face. "This job is at a village located on the Drifting Mountains. You wanna come with us?"

"Sure!" Naruto beamed widely back, whatever the job was, the only thing that interested him was that it was on a place he really wanted to see.

* * *

><p>"So we're getting off at Basco and travelling from there on foot?" Naruto asked, they had been on the train for twenty minutes now, he had sat in relative silence, watching Jet and Droy's awful attempts of hitting on Levy. They both sat on either side of her in their carriage box on the train, while Naruto had the opposing side all to himself. "Perhaps we should use this time to better know each other, my name is Naruto Namikaze, I'm seventeen years old. I use a Celestial Spirit summoning magic like Lucy, but mine is called <em><strong>Shēngxiào Entity Summoning<strong>_. I also use a magic known as _**Rasen**_. Which uses pure concentrated Magic instead of channelling it into a medium like an object or element. I also have a Teleportation Magic named _**Flash Step**_." Naruto smiled at the three of them, who all looked a little astonished at the amount of magics he possessed.

"I'll go next. My name is Levy McGarden, and I'm seventeen years old as well. I use Solid Script, it allows me to turn whatever I write into what it is. For example if I wrote fire, then you would be hit by a blast of fire, if I wrote water, you'd by attacked by a blast of water." Levy smiled widely at Naruto, it was him who she was more introducing herself to, Jet and Droy had known her since childhood.

"I'm Jet. I'm eighteen years old. I use the _**High Speed**_ magic, _**God's Leg**_. As the name suggests it boosts my speed, making me the fastest man in Fairy Tail." Jet spoke, trying to act mysterious, nodding his hat towards Naruto.

"Name's Droy. Also eighteen. I use a _**Plant Magic**_, the seeds I plant from my 'Live-Coal can morph into a variety of attacks." Droy spoke and acted in a similarly mysterious way to Jet, probably just a play to attract Levy. Which Naruto had assumed they were both trying to do from the way they acted around her.

Naruto smiled at all three of them. "Well this is fun!" He suddenly spoke, confusing them. "I've only done two jobs with Fairy Tail so far. My first one was with Alzack. To be honest I like taking jobs with different people, you never get bored of the company because it's always changing. You're always meeting new people, y'know?"

"Yeah, I understand." The three of them chuckled awkwardly. They got what Naruto was saying, despite the fact the three of them had been together since childhood.

"So what is the job exactly?" Naruto asked innocently, as if he didn't just make things awkward for the Shadow Gear team.

"Oh yes," Levy replied, astounded that she had completely forgot to detail Naruto about the job. "There's a cave located somewhere in the Drifting Mountains, large enough for someone to live in. The village that lies on the Drifting Mountains, Deriva, wants us to locate and investigate the cave, search in it for treasure. The rate of pay is 150'000J."

"That sounds like something they could of done themselves. What's the catch?" Naruto asked curiously, this wasn't something someone would fork out so much money for normally.

"The villagers have a belief that a God moved in there a few years ago and has apparently left. According to the belief, the God harvested gold from within the mountain and piled it in a secret treasure room deep within the cave. They don't want to anger the God themselves if he is still living there." Levy replied with a smile, explaining the situation as easily as possible.

"And if he's moved out?"

"They believe that he created an army of monsters that he left behind to protect his gold treasure until he is ready to collect it. The monsters are ready to destroy anyone who enters the cave to protect the treasure, people have gone up before but haven't been seen since. So they believe it's cursed." Levy smiled even further. Not noticing how Jet and Droy visibly paled at the mention of God, monsters and cursed.

"Interesting, sounds like a lot of fun!" Naruto grinned, flashing his set of pearly white teeth.

"You're not scared at all?" Levy asked curiously, smiling when Naruto shook his head, the smile never fading from his face. "Wow, you're so brave Naru-san. I like brave guys, and no wonder Lu-chan likes you too."

The smile left Naruto's face, his eyes went as wide as saucepans. "What?"

Naruto could not be heard by Levy over the sound of Jet and Droy, both of whom had puffed out their chests, spouting about how they were unafraid of the mountain and it's silly God and surs and monsters as well.

* * *

><p>"Ah finally you came!" A man with short brown hair where a long earth brown robe with golden linings approached them. "Welcome to our village of Deriva. I am Anhalterin, Mayor of Deriva!"<p>

"Hello. I'm Naruto and this is Levy, Jet and Droy. We're here from Fairy Tail on behalf of the job request you sent." Naruto replied, pointing to himself and his three companions respectively when he named them.

"Yes, well I will give you a brief explanation of the job before I let you take off. I know how you mages like to be on the go!" Anhalterin chuckled loudly, his voice full of joy.

"For years our small village has lived in the shadow of the mountain. Prospering on the rivers that flow down it, the crops that grow on it's fertile soil. But suddenly, near seven years ago, they suddenly began to move, us along with the. It wasn't fast, but it could easily be distinguished that we were moving faster than the rest of the world. We assumed that the only cause of this was the work of something higher than us; a God. He entered the mountains, his presence and activities there shifting the mountains faster than usual. They suddenly began to Drift. We had always found fragments of gold on the mountains, so we assumed that was what he was harvesting for. Suddenly we became a tourist site, thousands of people coming to see and ride the 'Drifting Mountains', I will not deny we have profited greatly from it, but we always tried to appease the God. To keep him with us. Yet suddenly, last year the mountains began slowing again, still faster than the rest of the world, but not as fast as they used to be. We believe the God has indeed left, and kept the mountains moving as a sign to himself where he has left the treasure to pick up from later. We would like to investigate if this is true, and if it is collect the treasure to keep it safe until the God returns to collect it."

"So that's our job. Just find out if there's a stash of gold up there?" Jet looked up to the mountains, enormous masses of land. Thousands and thousands of feet into the air from where he was standing.

"Yes, that is all. And the pay will remain 150'000J, with possible interest depending on the time of the job's completion!" Anhalterin beamed wildly, bowing respectfully to all four of them.

"Well then we better not waste anymore time!" Naruto beamed back in return, turning to Levy, Jet and Droy. "Let's roll!"

* * *

><p>"Come the entry cave is up this way!" Jet called down to the other three mages making up the team. He had spent the last couple of hours patrolling the mountains with his <em><strong>High Speed <strong>_magic. Covering the entire mountain range whilst the rest of his team rested. He eventually found the cave entry into the mountain and formulated the quickest, easiest route to it from the village for his teammates.

"I gotta say, _**God's Leg**_ definitely has its uses." Naruto smiled to Levy, who walked next to him, the taller Droy walked steadily behind them, eavesdropping into their conversation and scowling jealously at Naruto.

"It does, although it can be a bit annoying sometimes. Jet can't do anything slowly because of it, he has to do things fast." Levy remembered having to try and keep up with Jet crossing miles and miles of stretches of land, some with the most horrendous sceneries, such as deserts and swamps.

"Well I think it's great, I don't like staying still for too long either. There's a lot more fun in moving around." Naruto beamed widely again, climbing up the mountain is if it was nothing.

"Yeah but didn't you ever hear 'slow and steady wins the race'?" Levy asked curiously, grabbing Naruto's extended hand once he had offered it to help pull her up the mountain.

"Well yeah but take animals for example, there's predators and prey, you think slow and steady will help the prey get away? You think slow and steady will help the predators catch them?" Naruto asked, climbing a little further up. Jet sat near the top on a mountain ledge, watching the other three climb slowly.

"But we are not animals, we're humans, mages." Levy responded, growing slightly irritated at Naruto's good responses. She had prided herself on being smart and a good speaker. She had never met her match before.

"Still, there will come a time when you must run. And there will come a time when you must hunt." Naruto responded, locking eyes with Levy, gone was any humour in his eyes, they held an aura of seriousness. It slightly frightened her.

_'What has he experienced?'_ Levy asked her self, the way he spoke about the matter. It sounded like it came from first hand experience.

"And what are a group of Fairies doing in such a hazardous environment." A woman with light brown hair tied into a sideways ponytail and dark brown eyes and sporting oval glasses called out in an amused, almost mocking chuckle. She wore a green dress with moveable wings on the back of it, currently vibrating like insect wings. She wore navy blue stockings along with white sandals, and was carrying a feathered purple fan with three hearts on it. A Fairy Tail stamp was printed on her right bosom, the stamp being black in colour.

"Evergreen!" Levy called out in surprise, identifying the mystery woman to Naruto.

"What's this, a new member?" Evergreen strutted confidently over to Naruto, ignoring Levy and Droy, she eyed him eye at point blank range. "He's got a decent look to him. But it's power that captivates a girl like me." She smirked mischievously. "So tell me, what are you doing up here?"

"His name is Naruto Namikaze, he joined a few weeks ago." Levy spoke sweetly and politely, despite the fact she was being utterly ignored.

"We're on a job," Naruto replied bluntly, taking a few steps away from the greed clad girl. "To investigate if there is any treasure hidden in the Drifting Mountains."

"Treasure?" The word seemed to spark her interest. "I have just finish the job I was on, perhaps I shall accompany you on this job. We can get to know each other better that way." Evergreen spoke again, snuggling up next to Naruto.

"I wouldn't count on it..." Naruto replied with a long, heavy sigh, he didn't like the way this girl acted. She acted as if she ruled all of them. Slipping his way out of her grasp easily he continued on up the mountain. "Come with us if you must. We might need an extra pair of hands."

Evergreen grumbled, flying up to the top to stand with Jet, the other three were not far behind. Jet helping each one up as the reached the mouth of the cave. The group of five stood in front of the eerie darkness, no noise came from the cave. Naruto took one step closer, standing in the middle of the group he gazed hard down into the cave, if he had learned anything from his travels, it was that darkness and silence always spelled disaster. "Let's move out! But keep on your guard!"

* * *

><p><strong>AN:** Yo! Rinne here! Phew, my second story updated today, I'm pooped! Anyways how was the chapter, I know it's a little shorter than the recent chapters but there wasn't much to write about, mainly just setting the scene for the next two or three chapters.

So the team now comprimises of Naruto, Jet, Droy, Levy and Evergreen. A good combination. What will they find in the cave? You'll just have to wait and see- oh I can't contain it, I can tell you that Naruto and Spedisie will offically meet for the first time in one of the oncoming chapters, as at this moment in time Spedisie is n the cave as well.

Anyways, I'm gonna take a break from writing for a bit. Let's see in the past month I've updated To Become A Master 4 times, Becoming The Legend once, A Complete Family, Incomplete once and started a new fic and updated a chapter. I'm pretty worn out, and no other authors seem to update either, well none of the stories I've got favourited have. Anyways I'll be back in two weeks or so with an update of Fairy Tail Utopia (both ETL and FTD) as well as a update for A Kindred Spirit. Oh and I'm also gonna work on a Zabuza centric one shot to follow onto Legends of a S-Class mage, I won't take a one month hiatus like I did when writing Itachi's this will be more in my free time, cause it's not really that important, but it'll still be fun to do. and i guess it will have some relevence to Fairy Tail Utopia.

Anyways. I'm sleepy so I'm gonna go take a nap,

Until Next Time,

Rinne-Kami, Out!


	7. A Gift

"Just don't get in my way, Droy. This is my chance to prove myself to Levy." Jet spoke confidently to his partner, splitting up from the rest of the group to search more of the cave at a quicker rate. Naruto had chose to go off alone, allowing the other four to pair up, exclaiming that he is 'never alone'.

Droy scoffed loudly in amusement at his orange haired companion. "That's funny, you speak as if you have a chance with her, we both know that it is my strength she admires more than yours."

"Oh yeah!" Jet spoke accusingly, stopping in his movements to press his forehead against Droy's, glowering intensely at him. Droy mirrored the action as his response, glaring back at Jet angrily. They remained like this for a few moments, neither seeming to want to give him.

"Once I've showed how more valuable I am, my only competition for Levy's affections will be Naruto." Jet spoke before continuing on down the dark tunnel.

Droy stood motionless for a few seconds, staring in confusion at Jet's leaving back. "Naruto isn't of any competition for Levy. I'll admit when I first met him I thought he could be, Levy seemed to really like him, but you remember what Levy whispered to us back at the guild?..."

Jet stopped for a moment, allowing the black haired mage to catch up with him. He thought back to when they were at the guild, suddenly the memories came back to him. "Oh yeah..."

_**-Flashback-**_

_"These are Droy and Jet!" Levy beamed, running around to throw her arms around their necks. Naruto noticed how they both seemed to loosen up with the physical contact with the girl. "We're in a team together, we're called Shadow Gear. We've been a team for a long time."_

_"Cool, what's up Jet and Droy?" Naruto nodded his head towards both of them, giving them a smaller smile than he would usually give strangers. He didn't like the way they were treating him at first._

_"Nothing much." They both seemed grumbled back together in an annoyed tone. Levy suddenly brought the duo down to her height by the ears._

_"Be nice to him, both of you."Levy spoke in a hushed voice to the both of them, frowning at them slightly. "This is Lu-chan's boyfriend, you know the one I was telling you about..."_

_Both of their faces radiated with glee at the news, any suspicion against Naruto possible making a move on their Levy had disappeared._

_In unison they grinned wide, both of them throwing an arm around his neck. "How are you, Naruto? Shadow Gear was just about to go on a job, and Levy wanted to ask if you would like to come along seeing as you and her are both friends of Lucy. She wants to get to know you better!" They both spoke in incredibly happy, excited voices. That was the greatest news they had ever been told._

_**-Flashback-End-**_

"Yeah, gotta admit I was worried that he and Levy would become attracted to each other. It was really good to find out he already has a girlfriend." Jet sighed heavily in relief, recalling the excellent news. "Still, gotta hand it to him. Naruto got himself one hell of a catch."

"I can't believe I didn't see it earlier, after all, he and Lucy are rather friendly with each other all the time!" Droy laughed loudly as he continued along the darkness with his friend.

* * *

><p>Evergreen and Levy walked side by side in the silence, the tension between the two females was obvious. They had never exchanged long conversation between them, they had never even spent a decent amount of time in each others company, but Naruto had split the group up in order to search more of the cave quicker, Jet and Droy leaving as one team and Naruto continuing through the cave himself.<p>

Evergreen's loud exhaling broke the silence. "So... this Naruto, never seen his face before... how recent a member is he?" She asked in order to spark up a conversation with the petite bluenette.

But there was another reason behind her motives for asking about Naruto. Laxus liked to be informed about all new members of the guild. To know how strong they were, and if they would prove themselves an embarrassment to the name Fairy Tail.

"I think he joined a couple of weeks ago, around the same time as Lu-chan." Levy replied honestly, he and Lucy appeared at the same time with Natsu, but she had never seem them work together. _'But there's THAT factor between the two of them...'_ She added in her mind with a childish giggle.

"Really? And what are his abilities?" Evergreen didn't dodge around the question, she asked it bluntly. This Naruto, he held himself with pride and confidence, a type that was only visible in people who had full confidence in their powers. It was a similar way that Laxus held himself.

"He's got quite a few magics." Levy replied with a smile. Completely unaware of Evergreen's ulterior intentions. "The first one he has is kind of like Lu-chan's _**Stellar Spirit Summoning**_, but his is more of a Lost Magic version of it, he uses _**Shēngxiào Entity Summoning**_, I haven't seen any of his summons yet, but supposedly their very powerful, I have read about them in a book once. The other two he has in one called _**Flash Step**_, which is a teleportation Magic, the final one is a sell I've never heard of before, he calls it _**Rasen**_, and he creates pure, concentrated spiralling magic in order to attack."

"Pure Magic? Preposterous!" Evergreen snorted mockingly in return. "There's no such thing anymore, magic must be concentrated through a medium, such as an element or transformation. Do you not understand the intracity involved with having to use magic simply in the form of pure magic?"

"I thought that too, until her showed it to us..." Levy replied honest. "He held out his palm, and this spiralling sphere of pure magic appeared in his palm, then he smashed it into a rock, blowing it to bits in milliseconds. It was incredible!"

_'Laxus must know about this!'_ Evergreen thought with a determination. '_He could be the one... he reminds me of Laxus, how he takes control of a group so easily._' She thought in honesty, the similarities between the two blonds was very visible. "He may have some incredibly abilities, but he will never be Laxus."

_'Laxus..._' Levy thought with interest as well as sadness, she remembered the strain and distance between Laxus and Makarov, grandfather and grandson. Perhaps this was an opportunity for her to find out about the renegade grandson of the master, in order to give the master some peace of mind. "Laxus... how is he?" She asked simply.

"Stronger than ever!" Evergreen replied quickly and smugly. "He will become the fourth guild master in no time. His abilities are second to none." Evergreen left so many questions for her to ask, but Levy could tell that she would be answering none of them. She could see it in her eyes.

"Stop." Evergreen's hand jutted out in front of her, stopping her movements and train of thoughts. "Look ahead." Evergreen nodded down the tunnel. Looking, Levy saw a dim light in the distance, eerily glowing through the darkness. Levy turned towards Evergreen, whose eyes had narrowed in the direction. "Follow me..." She practically ordered, beginning to make her way towards the distant light.

* * *

><p>"I wish I had a better incentive as to what I'm actually supposed to be look for in this cave, and where I should find it..." Naruto mutter to himself as he slowly tread through the darkness of the winding caverns of the cave. Each one of his steps echoing as he moved further and further through the pitch black.<p>

They had split off into groups, Naruto chose to continue alone, allowing Jet and Droy, and Evergreen and Levy to partner up. Sometime he preferred to work alone, his spirits were his true companions, he worked better with one of them than he did with anyone else.

His movements stopped as he heard a low, almost childlike chuckling in the darkness. He looked around in surprise, trying to locate it's source. "Who's there?" He called out into the darkness, hoping to hear a reply. The treading of footsteps, the quiet breathing they might give out.

"_How silly of you..._" A voice replied in an amused tone, the voice resonating echoes through the cave. "_Treading so far into the darkness with no way of locating the light..._"

"Show yourself!" Naruto shouted into the darkness once again. Suddenly a lit torch was thrown at him from the darkness, he caught it easily, the fire lighting up a small portion of the cave he was in. Instantly Naruto looked in the direction of which the torch was thrown.

He couldn't see much, only a pair of pointed-toe shiny dress shoes on the crowd, standing with the weight leaning more on one foot. It was a leisurely, calm stance that Naruto recognised.

And suddenly a pair of gleaming eyes pierced through the darkness. The iris of the eyes were odd. The right eye was a glowing deep ocean blue, darker than his own blue eye colour, like the dark depths of the ocean. The left eye was a gleaming yellow, a stark comparison to the right eye. It glowed much brighter than the right eye. "I'm happy... we finally get the chance to meet, Naruto." The shape of the eyes narrowed, possessing a happy set to them. Naruto could only think that this person was smiling.

It was obviously a male, the pitch and tone of the voice suggested that. Yet his tone was laid back, unafraid of Naruto or the darkness around him. "Who are you?" Naruto near shouted at the person, anger growing in his voice. How did this man know his name?

"Surely your spirits must have spoken about me? I am Spedisie." The man introduced himself. From how his head moved, it showed that he gave a small, courteous nod of his head with the introduction of his name.

"You're Spedisie?" Naruto replied in honest surprise, he hadn't expected that he would meet the man in such circumstances. "I have heard of you, only a small amount, but you did manipulate Yirrow into almost destroying that town in Maguma."

"Really?" Spedisie responded with slight surprise of his own, followed by a short, dry chuckle. "So what have you heard?"

"That you are a villain." Naruto was extremely blunt with his response, his eyes narrowed at the man hiding in the darkness. He watched as the man's eyes moved even more to match a large smile, before he resonated another dry giggle.

"Who isn't a villain in this world?" Spedisie responded as he exhaled out his breathing, calming his laughing fits. "Even those who claim they want to achieve peace are themselves Narcissistic egomaniacs who believe they can change everyone in the world. They want everyone to behave themselves in accordance to what they believe is peace. Is that not an attempt at world domination?" Spedisie asked with another giggle, yet his voice held a serious tone to it. "Even your precious spirits are villains, Naruto. They betrayed me in the past as well, they were once my friends as well, but they turned their backs on me as soon as they found appropriate..."

"What are you talking about?..." Naruto's eyes narrowed in scepticism at the man. His spirits, with or without the inclusion of Riegin depending on how you looked at it. Had always been his trusted companions and friends, he had earned their respect and they had always had his in return.

"That doesn't matter now..." Spedisie responded in a relaxed, easy voice. Brushing off any worries. "I have gained the power to destroy them all with a flick of my wrist if I wanted to. Even Riegin would fall against me now."

"If that's the case, why do you insist on hiding in the shadows?" Naruto smirked cockily at the odd eyed man, whose smiled fell at the small jab at him, his eyes held a small amount of annoyance and hatred, before he let out another echoing chuckle.

"Cheeky brat..." Spedisie laughed loudly, before calming considerably. "The only thing of worth in this cave is back the way you came, I left a small present for you in this cave as well. If you go back, you'll find it." Spedisie's eyes moved to smile one last time. "Until we met again." He spoke before a splash echoed through the cave. Where his feet once were was a pool of ink, slowly creeping towards Naruto.

Naruto stared at the puddle of ink, before looking back in the direction he came. _'If Spedisie tells me __to go back...'_ He suddenly turned to the direction he was already going. _'I will continue moving forwards!'_ He assured himself in his mind.

Stepping around the puddle Naruto continued on with the torch in hand, guiding him through the dark of the caves, onto whatever fate held in store for him at the end of this tunnel.

* * *

><p>Naruto stopped in his tracks as he stared at what was ahead, his interaction with Spedisie was long behind him, he had travelled further and further into the cave until he reached this dead end.<p>

But it wasn't a dead end so to speak. The tunnel expanded into a circular small room, completely empty save for a desk made of stone at the far end from the entrance.

Naruto approached the stone desk, over it was two torches, which he promptly lit, giving himself that extra light. On the desk was a book, looking as if it was ready to fall apart. It looked years old, the cover was tattered and damaged. Carefully Naruto picked it up, gently blowing off the dust covering the front.

There was no name, no title, no indication who's this book was and what it was about. '_Easiest thing to do is to check it's contents.'_ Naruto nodded in his mind, picking a page in the book. '_I'll start with the last page, if this is a diary, the most recent entry will be there..._'

He flicked to the final page of the book, sure enough, it was in fact a journal, yet no dates were given for each entry. So Naruto had no idea how old this book could be. He read the text of the final page under the flickering light of the fiery torches.

_'It is time I leave this place, my home for the past six years. Here I have honed everything that makes me, me. I entered these caverns frail, and weak, and scared, and small. Now I leave them with strength._

_A new home has been offered to me, one that I intend to accept, I have already come to terms with the idea that I would have to leave this home of mine someday, but I'm worried... I built these caverns, what will become of them once I leave?..._

_So I have left my statues in this cave to forever protect what I have accomplished here. They are my precious treasures, proof that my life has meant something so far. I pray that they will last for an eternity.'_

_'Incredible...'_ Naruto thought with utter surprise in his mind, exhaling deeply as he slowly closed the book once again._ 'Someone did actually live up here, and what's more they created these caves...'_

Naruto stared in astonishment at the book for a few more moments, until a high pitched scream echoed through the caves. Naruto's head snapped up quickly, looking down the entrance to the room. "That sounded like Levy?..." He muttered, before running out of the room, darting back down the corridors following the recurring screams.

* * *

><p>Naruto charged into the large circular room, sure enough Levy and Evergreen were the source of the scream, both slightly bruised and covered in dirt. Levy was leaning against a wall cowering whilst Evergreen gritted her teeth, kneeling on one knee with her fist pressed into the ground. "My <em><strong>Stone Eyes<strong>_ do nothing against these things!" She screamed out in frustration.

Naruto looked across to where she was looking, and was utterly surprised he didn't see these things first.

It was an army of statues, gargoyle statues made of stone. And they were moving towards the two girls, they didn't move as he thought statues would, they walked quite comfortably, without strain or sluggish movements. The mass army were disfigured in ways, some shabby and broken, with chunks of themselves missing. Others, on the other hand were perfect, every detail was immaculate.

Yet they all seemed to hold the same design, two designs as a matter of fact. One was a smaller design, with large, menacing, bat-like wings, their mouths agape with their fangs baring, their eyes forming sinister, pupilless stares of fury, claws were bared and ready to rip apart flesh. There was no clothing detailed on this form, allowing the detail of a bony body to shine through. Their stone wings flapped heavily through the air, causing them to hover their weighty bodies above the rest of the stone army.

The other design were larger, if only be a couple of feet. With a much bulkier physique, these statues stood dressed in a glorious knight's armour, dressed from the neck down in armour detail befitting a royal warrior, however the face was still exposed, like the previous form, the mouth was agape with fangs bared, accursed fury filled eyes, bald head and pointy ears. Instead of wings these statues held a variety of stone weapons, stone axes, stone swords, stone pole-arms, stone spears, stone maces, and even stone scythes.

"What's going on!" Jet and Droy suddenly rushed into the room, probably hearing the two females screams and hurried to Levy's location. Their eyes instantly went wide in unison at the sight of the marching army of stone Gargoyle statues.

Again in unison they both let out high pitched screams of terror, louder than what either of the two females made, before jumping to Levy's side, one on each side of her.

Naruto looked behind him and sighed._ 'Looks like I'll have to do this by myself...'_ He thought with a slightly annoyed expression. Before he looked down at the journal in his hand._ 'I'll look into this later...'_ He mentally noted to himself as he placed the book in the small bag around his waist, before turning to the stone army.

"If you can fight, then fight." He spoke aloud to the other four, taking more of a battle stance, drawing a summon disc and his summon gun.

"Who put you in charge." He was caught by surprise when Evergreen stood next to him, a smirk on her face as she looked towards the stone army. "Just because my _**Stone Eyes**_ have no affect doesn't mean I'm down for the count. I have many more defences at the ready."

Naruto smirked in return to her, giving her a small nod. Looking behind him, he saw that Levy, Jet and Droy seemed to have composed themselves, now all three of them had stood up, together as a team, Naruto nodded at them before turning back to the Gargoyles. "Let's begin!"

* * *

><p><strong>AN:** Yo! Rinne-Kami here, saying I'M BACK BABY!... no this was actually torture for me to write. I just couldn't muster the will to write for so long. I feel like this chapter is sloppy, underproduced, short and just in general bad.

We're nearing the end of the Drifting Mountains Arc, perhaps 1 or 2 more chapters and it will be complete, then we enter the Phantom Lord Canon Arc

I feel like you guys deserve an explanation as to why my writing has been stalled, and why I may be leaving Fanfiction and giving all my stories to DeathGodSlayer. I have been in a state of spiralling depression, nothing seems to be working for me, now I'm not usually one to get depressed, rather the opposite I'm usually the one to tell people to get the fuck over it. But these last few months have not been easy, and I have begun to lose my love for Fanfiction, both in writing and reading. And my state has seriously affected my writing skills, and it's unfair to shot such shotty pieces of chapters for you guys to rad in front of you.

Should I not return, and DGS takes my stories, I don't want you to worry. DGS is my best friend in real life as well, he lives literally just down the street from me, I didn't discover that he was DGS until we started talking about things, and he said that he has a FF account called DGS, and thats how it happened, anyway. I wanted you to know that even if I personally do not write any further chapters, I am never too far away from them, DGS knows exactly where I planned on taking each of my stories and has contributed some excellent Ideas himself to them, i trust that they will be in good hands. And should I return, he's perfectly happy to return them to me. Hell I may take some time away from Fanfiction then return and start anew. But whatever happens, I'm glad you all have enjoyed my stories, and I hope you will continue to enjoy them no matter what. Things will get better for me eventually. :)

Anyways, the plan for next chapter, will be specifically battling the Gargoyles, Yirrow will reutrn with a new form and new powers. And I hope to introduce a new summon disc and OC character very soon.

Perhaps for the final time...

Rinne-Kami, out...


	8. Benitoite

This chapter was written by DeathGodSlayer

* * *

><p>"<em><strong>Flash Step: Over The Horizon!<strong>_" Naruto called before instantly teleporting across the battlefield, floating weightlessly in mid-air over a flying gargoyle statue now brought to life. "_**Rasen: Gan!**_" He yelled forming a sphere of pure spiralling magic in has palm before drilling it into the back of the statue gargoyle, destroying it instantly], before spotting another gargoyle underneath allowing himself to drop and drill the sphere through the larger ground gargoyle statue, destroying it as well.

Naruto stopped momentarily, looking around at the scene, the small room had been filled with dust and rubble, overhead, he and Evergreen took control of the flying gargoyles. Evergreen using her ability to fly with her _**Fairy Dust**_ magic, _**Fairy Machine Gun: Leprechaun**_ to annihilate them quickly.

"_**Solid Script: Rope!**_" Levy called from beneath him, created the word rope in the air, created from rope. Jet quickly took hold of him, and with his _**God's Leg**_, ran quickly around twenty soldier gargoyles and bundling them together. "Droy, now!" He screamed towards his black haired partner.

"Got it!" Droy replied quickly, throwing his _**Live Coal**_ seeds into the mix of gargoyles before slapping the palms of his hands together. "_**Hammer Plant!**_" Large vines with plant hammers at the top emerged from the ground, quickly pummelling the twenty gargoyles into rubble. "Levy! Go again with _**Solid Script**_!" Droy shouted to the small blue haired girl, having her repeat their team battle formation.

'_It's a good thing these gargoyles are weak and already broken, we're taking them out quickly.'_ Naruto smirked victoriously as he destroyed another flying gargoyle with _**Rasen**_.

Just then a loud zombie like moan was heard, they all turned to the source. From the stairs came a massive statue gargoyle, every step shaking the ground they stood on. Standing at least 25 feet tall, this monster held a large sceptre tipped with a hammer like ball, unlike the other conventional weapons the smaller gargoyles used. Dressed in armour like details with a long stone cape stuck in a fixed position surrounding it, on its head was a deformed crown, with small spikes digging into its head from the base of the crown.

As it approached it swung it's massive sceptre towards Levy who was unprepared for the attack. _'Shit!'_ Naruto thought with worry, staring directly at Levy. "_**Flash Step: Target - Levy!**_" He quickly teleported to her location, having enough time to throw her out the way, yet not enough time to move himself, he took the fall force of the swing from the sceptre, launching him across the hall into the wall of the cave. The king gargoyle hit several of its 'subordinates', destroying them instantly.

The king gargoyle swung it's sceptre again, trying to hit the others, but the dodged effectively being more ready for its attack, the attack collided with the cave's walls, shaking the entire hall. Large chunks of rock began falling from the ceiling. _'It's gonna cause a cave in if it isn't detail with quickly!_' Naruto grunted as he stood back up, taking out his _**Contract Gun**_. "_**Load Platinum Disc!**_" He shouted as he took out his newest disc and loaded it into the gun. "_**Summon: Eleventh Year Xushi: Yirrow the Dog!"**_

A bright light shone from the gun, as the light faded, he found that everything about Yirrow had changed; he presented a new form to Naruto, the one that so far seemed the most human. The fur had left his face, save for short blue hair on the top of his head, with a stripe of black fur, the blue hair was long enough to resemble two ears. A black mask covered his red eyes and shorter muzzle, revealing only the cheeks, mouth and parts of the forehead, revealing tan skin. Yellow fur covered his torso with a large spike in the centre of his chest. Sleek black fur covered his shoulders, and forearms where another two spikes grew from the back of his hands, as well as his legs from his knee downwards, his upper arm and thighs were covered by sleek blue fur. His body was very lean, not nearly as muscular as his other form, and was also much shorter in comparison, now standing around the same height as Naruto himself.

"Thank you for summoning me Naruto, I was beginning to worry about your safety against these things, I can feel Spedisie's curses radiating from them." Yirrow spoke in a cool, calm voice, yet his brow furrowed in what appeared to be anger.

"We need to defeat it quickly, Yirrow, can you help?" Naruto asked as he moved to stand next to the dog spirit.

"Yes." Yirrow nodded affirmatively. "This will be a good opportunity to practise what you taught me." Yirrow smirked, overflowing with confidence. Naruto grinned himself, remembering his last conversation with Yirrow.

_**-Flashback-  
><strong>_

"So what did you want, Yirrow?" Naruto looked at the small dog in front of him, being taken away from Lucy by the small dog who made a request from of the blond a while ago.

"A would ask you for a favour, Naruto." Yirrow replied, before closing its small eyes. A bright light enveloped him, Naruto watch the small dog as it suddenly grew in size, moving to stand on its hind legs only.

As the light faded, he found that everything about Yirrow had changed; he presented a new form to Naruto, the one that so far seemed the most human. The fur had left his face, save for short blue hair on the top of his head, with a stripe of black fur, the blue hair was long enough to resemble two ears. A black mask covered his red eyes and shorter muzzle, revealing only the cheeks, mouth and parts of the forehead, revealing tan skin. Yellow fur covered his torso with a large spike in the centre of his chest. Sleek black fur covered his shoulders, and forearms where another two spikes grew from the back of his hands, as well as his legs from his knee downwards, his upper arm and thighs were covered by sleek blue fur. His body was very lean, not nearly as muscular as his other form, and was also much shorter in comparison, now standing around the same height as Naruto himself.

"How did you do that?" Naruto asked with interest, Yirrow had now presented three very different forms to himself.

"My main magic, _**Species**_." Yirrow replied in a very calm, collected voice. "It is a very complex transformation magic, much more different than regular _**Transformations**_ or even _**Take Overs**_. I can morph different aspects of my body to suit any battle, this form, is my _**Speed Forme**_, it gives me my highest possible speed, as well as uncanny reflexes, however it negates strength, pitting me weaker against foes who can match my speed but also have strength, such as Wiin when he uses _**Burst**_." He explained quickly, yet in detail. "What I wanted to ask Naruto is if that magic you used against me whilst I was under Spedisie's influence, _**Rasen**_. Is it possible to learn it? It would dramatically increase this forme's power."

Naruto's eyes widened with surprise at the request, before he beamed widely. "Of course I'll teach you it, you share your power with me, it's only fair I do the same."

_**-Flashback-End-**_

"Let's go!" Naruto shouted, with incredible speed, Naruto and Yirrow sped around the cave, both of them with _**Rasen: Gan**_ charged in their hands, they attacked different parts of the 25 foot tall gargoyle, Naruto attacked it's right hand, yet only destroyed up to the elbow, however the gargoyle lost the sceptre with the attack, Yirrow drilled his into its left leg, his wasn't as strong or perfect yet as Naruto's leaving a large hole in its leg rather than destroying it.

Naruto jumped high in the air, drilling another _**Rasen: Gan**_ into its chest, illuminating the gargoyle's face. That was when Naruto noticed it, the jewel in the centre of its crown, it was unlike anything he had ever seen before. The gargoyle moved to grab him with its remaining hand, but the blonde mage quickly jumped away.

Naruto placed his right palm behind his left hand, extending his arms out. "_**Rasen: Taih**__**ō**__**!**_" He called, the spiralling sphere of pure magic grew in his hands being larger than the usual size of _**Gan**_, instead of moving, the sphere extending into a horizontal pillar of pure magic, striking the gargoyle on the left shoulder, enough to completely blow off its head and arm, crumbling the rest of the gargoyle to pieces.

Its head flew towards Naruto, and he quickly grabbed it, before a terrible shaking could be felt. It was if the place was programmed to destroy itself with the destruction of the king gargoyle. Walls began to crumble and crack, larger chunks of rock collapsed from the ceiling.

"Yirrow go back!" Naruto yelled towards the spirit, which nodded before disappearing in a faint light. "Everyone get out, the place is gonna cave in!" He called to the rest of his team.

None of them wasted anytime, they all sped through the cave, the collapsing ceiling not far behind them, luckily the pathways were straightforward, quickly directing them towards the bright light of the open sky.

They jumped out of the cave's entrance just as it collapsed, forever closing off the cave to trespassers again.

"That was close!" Jet sighed loudly, laughing quietly in relief. "Say, Naruto, why did you keep that things head?" He looked towards the blond with scepticism, seeing the king gargoyle's head in the blonde's arms.

However Naruto didn't respond, he looked at the jewel on the monster's crown. A tortoise, with a snake coiled around it was present on the front. '_How bizarre…_' He stared in confusion at the design. His fingers moved towards the jewel, and with slight difficulty he plucked it from its stone casing.

It was flat, just like his discs, made out of a peculiar blue diamond like substance, on the opposite side of the disc, it had the symbol for something known as 'Black Tortoise'. He casually dropped the head of the gargoyle, staring at the disc with awe and wonder. '_Just what is it?_'

"Your fighting skills and natural leadership have impressed me," Evergreen spoke to him, breaking him out of his fixated trance upon the disc. "Something that isn't easy to accomplish."

The blond only looked back at her, nodding once. "Come on," He called to the entire group. "We should head back to the town."

* * *

><p>"We all went in different directions in the cave, so we searched the entire place. The only thing that was in the cave was a room in the centre of the cave filled with gargoyles made out of stone. But they came alive and started to attack us, our fight with them caused a cave in, but there was definitely no treasure in the cave and no signs of mining for treasure, it appeared to be just a regular old cave." Levy explained the situation to the village's leader, Anhalterin. Who appeared suspicious of the story as he listened to it.<p>

"Hmm….. And you're sure there was no treasure at the cave?" He mused as he stared at the team.

Naruto subconsciously tightened his grip on the disc, whilst his other hand moved to his back pocket gently touching the journal book he found in the cave. "Positive. There was nothing there." The blond replied for the group after a few seconds.

"That's a pity, makes me wonder if you even deserve a payment if you came back empty handed." The old man spoke to himself out loud, stroking his chin contemplatively as he thought on the matter.

"Wait a minute." The blond spoke again, his brow lowering with annoyance. "The request explained that the job was to explore and search the cave, there was no specification on returning with treasure. If you wanted treasure returning, you should have stated in the request. The matter of fact is that we performed what was required from us as stated in the request, and we put our live on the line in that job. We DESERVE a payment." Naruto spoke with authority, his blue eyes flaring slightly with anger, his stare locked onto the old man, and it was something that Anhalterin did not want to challenge.

"Very well, follow me and you'll receive your payment…."

* * *

><p>"150'000J split between the four of us, makes 37'500J each." Naruto spoke as he evenly spread out the money on the table in the team's train booth, setting up four even stacks of jewels. "By the way, when did Evergreen leave, I thought she would have wanted part of the money?" Naruto added the question as he picked a stack up and put it back into his pocket.<p>

"She left when we went with Anhalterin to get our payment. I suppose she wanted to make her own, quicker way back to the guild, she is quite reclusive actually, I doubt she wanted to spend an entire train journey with us as well." Levy replied with a cheery complexion as Team Shadow Gear pooled their cuts into one stack before Levy picked the whole sum from the table.

Naruto shrugged his shoulders after carefully listening to Levy's explanation. "Oh well, it's not like I'll probably ever see her again it that's the case." He spoke with a small smile, before fishing through his pocket, taking out the diamond blue disc once again, flickering against the light that shone through the window.

"Naruto, just what is that?" Droy asked with interest, his head nodding towards the small item in Naruto's hand.

Naruto's eyes did not move from the small disc. "I have no idea." He replied honestly, still fixated upon the small item. "But it looks a lot like my summoning tools. I'm going to research it when I get back to my apartment tonight."

* * *

><p>"Laxus," Evergreen stood staring at the back of her leader, her idol as he was sat down, his long cape pooling over the chair he was sat on, spiky headphones covering his ears, and spiky blond hair being seen on his head. "I have found you your final member."<p>

She saw how his head raised slightly; it appeared that even he was surprised at the news. "Ever, you, Fried, or Bixlow have never spoken those words towards me before." He didn't turn his head to meet her eyes in conversation. "None of you have ever deemed anyone worthy enough to fill that missing member. The mage must be something special."

"He is, Laxus." Evergreen responded with a smirk. "He has some interesting magic; A form of Stellar Spirit Summoning-"

"Stellar Spirits!" Laxus scoffed at the magic. "Not interested, those mages are weak."

"You don't understand, Laxus. I've never seen Stellar Spirits like his, his didn't use keys to open the gate, his used a gun. He called it _**Shēngxiào Entity Summoning**_." Evergreen responded with slight fear, worried that she might of wasted Laxus' valuable time.

"… And what else?" Laxus suddenly spoke after a few seconds of silence, as if contemplating the new knowledge. His head turned to the right, revealing a large lightning bolt shaped scar on his face, going over his right eye down his cheek.

Evergreen sighed in relief at his reply. "He has a Teleportation magic; _**Flash Step**_, even my eyes were unable to keep up with him. But his last magic was the most incredible; _**Rasen**_, he made Raw Pure Magic spiral from nowhere in his hand, its power was devastating."

"Manipulating Pure Magic is impossible, Ever! You know that!" Laxus' whole body rocketed up, turning around quickly to glare angrily at her. "Magic must be channelled through a medium! Light! Fire! Water! Wood! Even the body itself!"

"But the kid did it though, I watched him do it!" Evergreen jutted back quickly in fear. "He has talent, and he is powerful, Laxus. Give him a test, and he will pass it."

Laxus seemed to calm at the words, before a cool, calm smirk appeared on his face. "Very well, I shall give him a test to prove his capabilities. Where is he?"

"Well that's the best news of all! He's already in Fairy Tail, he joined only a couple of weeks ago!" Evergreen spoke happily, Laxus' happiness was her happiness.

Laxus appeared to grin at the news even further. "Excellent, that shall be his test. I hear whispers that _they_ plan to attack the guild soon; testing himself against _them_ will prove just how strong he is." He finished with a dark chuckle, "Tell me Ever, what is his name?"

Evergreen smirked in response to the question. "His name is Naruto Namikaze…"

* * *

><p>Naruto lay comfortably on his bed in his apartment, one hand resting behind his head, the other held the new diamond like blue disc between the thumb and index finger. He stared in fascination at the small disc, he could make out the picture on it, a picture of a tortoise with a snake coiled around it, on the back was two symbols, Winter and North.<p>

'_Elife will have the answers for this…'_ Naruto thought conclusively about the all-knowing snake. Taking out his contract gun and her disc. "_**Load Platinum Disc.**_" He pointed the gun directly in front of himself. "_**Summon: Sixth Year Sishi: Elife the Snake!**_"

He fired the gun, yet nothing happened, he fired again, yet still the door did not open. '_What's happening?_' He stared down with confusion towards the gun.

Before a powerful light fired out of the gun, enveloping the entire room with white light, blinding Naruto, he could make nothing out from the room, everything went white.

"Naruto."

His eyes widened at the voice, as the light dimmed he saw Riegin, floating effortlessly in his room, his armour completely equipped, hiding his face from view. "We must speak."

Naruto immediately understood Riegin's meaning. Riegin must speak, he must listen. "This has not happened for many centuries, one of the Benitoite discs falling into a summoner's hands."

"So this is what this is? A Benitoite disc?" Naruto spoke, raising the disc into view of Riegin, who nodded once in return.

"The Benitoite discs are at a level even beyond us Platinum disc summons, only four of them exist, and for the longest of times, I believed that they had been lost to the ages. Yet by coincidence, or by sheer dumb luck, you, the first _**Shēngxiào Entity**_ summoner in 400 years finds one." Riegin commented.

Naruto marvelled at the small disc in front of him. "Is it really that rare?" He spoke in a hushed whisper filled with awe.

Once again, Riegin gave one small nod. "And their power is beyond imagination, these spirits are beyond you at this moment in time. Forming the necessary bond between them is extremely difficult. Only the most courageous of mages, only those most at peace with themselves can harness their true power."

"Can you tell me anything else about them? What are they? What can they do?" Naruto began bombarding questions at the Leader of the Shēngxiào zodiacs.

Riegin only shook his head once. "That is as far as my knowledge on them goes. And don't bother asking Elife, I have already instructed her not to discuss the topic with you. You are not ready to pursue them, not yet anyway."

Naruto's eyes widened slightly, before a small smile grew on his face. "So is that all you came to tell me, Riegin?"

"There is more." Riegin nodded affirmatively. "Times have changed, Spedisie has begun to make faster, more unpredictable movements. You are not safe Naruto, while Spedisie continues to roam free without restraint. Yet despite that, you have ran into two of his schemes, even met him face to face, yet you have managed to elude his grasp. Elife has felt his movements, we know it is you he seeks, he has become fixated upon you, and he will not stop until he has claimed you for his own."

"What do you mean 'claimed me'?" Naruto asked with much confusion. "And just who is this Spedisie? You spirits have some bad history with him, and he told me that you betrayed him in the past? Just what is going on!"

"Perhaps another time…" Riegin commented quietly, not even attempting to answer his questions. "Spedisie has begun to move, and you need protection, that is all that matters. I know I said to face me when you deemed yourself ready, but times has changed. I believe you are ready to undertake my challenge."

Naruto's eyes widened with unimaginable shock as he stared at the dragon summon. "You're challenge…?"

Riegin nodded once again. "Yes. My challenge is simple, but perhaps the most difficult challenge of all. This is my challenge…"

_**You must release all of the spirits you have found so far…**_


	9. Past Happiness And The Future

The young blond boy wandered through a tomb, he had no idea where he was. But it was better than where he left. The Heartfilia mansion, a place where he had lived and served for three years. Taken in by the matron of the house, Layla Heartfilia, and her death last week meant is safety there was uncertain.

"_You're nothing but a street rat! Plucked from the streets on a whim of Layla's kindness!"_ He remembered the master of the house's words. Jude Heartfilia had always disliked him, doubting his capabilities, and only allowed him to stay because of Miss Layla. When she passed away, there was nothing to stop Jude returning him to the streets.

"_Promise me, Naruto, promise me you will look after my daughter, Lucy. I knew the moment I met you that you will do amazing things in the world. Please keep her safe."_ He remembered the finals words Miss Layla had said to him, even on her deathbed she thought of her daughter first. 'I'm sorry, Miss Layla, I can't protect Miss Lucy now. I'm just not strong enough yet, but one day I will find her. I never go back on my promises."

He entered a large room in the tomb, what he assumed would be the centre, in the middle of the room was just a box, carefully he made his way across the room towards it, until he knelt before the box. Opening it gently he discovered inside was a golden gun, with a weird part that looked like a slot entering the barrel.

Next to it was a shiny platinum disc. He picked both up carefully, on one side of the disc was a stylised design of a dragon, on the other was the symbol for 'Dragon', and Naruto stared in wonder at the small object. He noted that the disc was the perfect size for the slot in the gun. He loaded the disc into the slot and pushed it closed, before pointing the gun in front of him, pulling the trigger and firing. A bright light enveloped the room instead of a tremendous bang being heard, the small boy was blinded instead of being deafened.

"Is this a joke?" The blond boy heard a disappointed voice ring out, when he opened his eyes he saw a man, dressed head to toe in armoured appeared, his armour was spiked in a shining blue and gold colour, the feet shaped like claws digging into the earth, his helmet was tipped with a long red fabric flowing behind him, three long thorn whips of steel extended from in between the shoulders of the armour. "The Shēngxiào summoner has been dead for four hundred years, and now the first one since then is nothing but a small boy, who does not understand the power he has just been gifted."

"Who are you calling a boy!" Naruto responded with anger, standing back up on his feet. "My name is Naruto Namikaze! Remember it! And I might not understand what just happened here, so go away then if you are not happy! I don't need you!"

The mysterious man stood silent, only looking down towards the boy through his helmet. _'The strength of this boy's heart… I can feel it radiating… with time, he may grow into some more powerful than I can imagine with that kind of strength already dormant within him…'_

"You are far too young and unready to undertake my challenge." The man spoke out loud now towards the young boy. "However I will allow you to prove your worth. Search for the other Shēngxiào Entity spirits, and when you are ready. Come to me again for my challenge." He finished before disappearing in a bright light, the disc popping back out of the gun.

* * *

><p>"Checkmate." Naruto smile victoriously as he moved his castle piece, locking Leiru's king in the back two lines of the board, the blonde's queen piece guarding the other line. Naruto was so lost in the hours long game he had completely forgotten about the stench of the dirty sewer he was currently sat in, grime and sewage covered the cylindrical walls, even now he sat on a damp dirty box whilst undertaking Leiru's challenge. For four years he had searched for the whereabouts of any of the Shēngxiào, so far he had yet to use his <em><strong>Contract Gun<strong>_, Riegin just refused to heed his summons.

"Impossible!" Leiru screamed in defiance. "How does a fourteen year old boy beat my intelligence, me, Leiru the Rat!" Leiru screamed out for answers, yet only he and Naruto were present. "Even with my cheating, he still wins!"

"You were cheating?" Naruto's eyebrow rose in surprise to Leiru's slip of the tongue, something even the large rat noticed as well.

"Remember this kid, I rule, always." Leiru came clean, but remained cryptic in his response.

"It's okay, in all honesty, I cheated as well." Naruto answered honestly, giggling cheekily, winking and sticking his tongue out at the spirit Rat. "Within the first few minutes of the game I knew Ii wouldn't be able to beat you fairly. I'd love to have your skills in my team, Leiru, please work with me as my partner?"

Leiru's eyes widened with the revelation before his face morphed to a sly smirk. "I like you, kid. You have the natural prankster's cunning, as well as the natural prankster's innocence. I think we will make great partners." He spoke, holding out his grotty paw towards the young blonde mage.

Naruto beamed widely, ignoring the dirtiness of the paw, and grabbed it with his own hand, shaking it once before Leiru began disappearing in a dirty white light.

* * *

><p>Naruto stood before the large green snake, it had been one whole year since he had found Leiru, and now in the middle of an amazon rainforest, under the information from an old woman he had met in a town some weeks back, he had finally found the snake spirit of the Shēngxiào, Elife. "Let's begin your challenge, Elife." He said with a warm smile, her challenge did not seem difficult. To look at her <em><strong>Medusa<strong>_ form and not feel fear, she had explained that if one feels fear when looking at her _**Medusa**_ form, their body would become paralyzed, even if the fear wasn't directed at her, the smallest amount of fear would end with paralysis.

The snake nodded, before growing significantly larger, her scales turned a darker green, her eyes turning a darker blood red, with a red gem appearing in between her eyes. Black bands covered the length of her body. And a hood grew from her body, and on the hood was a dark face with black eyes with concentric red rings in them with a jagged dark smile.

Naruto stared at the darker appearance of the snake, yet he felt nothing. "I'm not scared." He replied honestly. "If anything, you just look so much more cooler!" A large beaming smile grew on his face.

The snake's brow furrowed, before reverting back to her original form. "You've passed the first part of my challenge." The snake hissed out, before quickly darting towards the blond, her body coiling around his until her arms reaching his head. "Now for the real task." She hissed softly again, her hands beginning to stroke through his blond locks.

"A-Amazing…" Elife spoke as if in euphoria as her hands stroked through his hair. '_This boy…. He has nothing but pure thoughts, I sense no darkness, no evil, no malcontent or misuse for us spirits. He truly cares for us…_' A very faint red tint appeared on her face. _'He does not view me as a friend or tool, but a companion, and a friend.'_

Naruto only stood still, allowing the snake to do whatever she was doing. "I-I shall accompany you, I shall become your partner, my strength is yours."

"And my strength is yours as well." Naruto replied with a large grin, his hand reaching hers before she started disappearing in a faint light, the last thing he heard from her was a hissing, yet girlish shy giggle.

* * *

><p>Naruto grunted as Wiin's large fist connected with his cross armed guard, before spinning in the air to kick the tiger spirit in the chest, knocking him back.<p>

Yet Wiin recovered quickly, charging towards Naruto before he even had the chance to touch the floor, delivering a powerful knee to Naruto's abdomen whilst in mid-air before punching him in the same spot as the blond rose, launching across the empty field they found to train.

Naruto grunted with pain as he rolled along the floor to a halt, before slowly rising to his knees. "Why do you not use magic, Naruto?" Wiin asked as he watched his blonde owner rise to his feet.

Naruto gave a smirk back to Wiin. "Because you're not using any magic." He replied, crouching back down to a fighting stance. "It wouldn't be fair if I used magic."

Wiin gave a small chuckle, small bone spike began growing from his fists and forearms. "Then perhaps I should raise the level of this game."

* * *

><p>"So why am I doing this, Yirrow?" Naruto asked as he sat cross legged next to the dog summon, I his power form on the top of a grassy hill at sunset, the wind gently brushing through the grass, creating wave patterns along the hill.<p>

"Because you are strong in body and spirit, Naruto, but you must also be strong in mind as well, otherwise it could hinder the strength of your body and spirit. You must keep them on par with each other. Meditation is a good method of training the mind, developing how to relax and empty your mind, as well as learning how to focus." The dog spirit replied, already entering a meditative position.

Naruto nodded in understanding, before mimicking the position Yirrow displayed. '_Okay, so empty my mind, focus on emptying my mind. But that seems contradictory, focusing your mind on emptying it.'_ Naruto sat with his brow furrowed, thoughts kept wandering in and out of his head as he attempted to clear his mind. '_I wonder how Lucy is? I haven't seen her in a while. Does she have any new spirits? Is she keeping up with her rent? How was her last job? Is she okay?-'_

"Thinking about Lucy?" Yirrow's voice suddenly broke him out of his train of thought, the blond mage coughed and stammered loudly, his cheeks turning a faint red. The blond turned towards the dog spirit, noticing an uncharacteristic sly and cheeky smirk on his face. "Do you love her?"

"That's a bit extreme…" Naruto answered once he had composed himself, but the red tint on his cheeks and the inability to meet Yirrow in the eye remained. "I mean, she is really nice, and fun and cool, and I like her a lot. But love?..."

"I apologise for my brashness on pressing the subject." Yirrow responded after hearing Naruto's indecisive answer. "You must remember, Naruto. I worry only for your safety."

Naruto looked towards the larger human like dog with confusion, what did his safety have to do with love. "Love is perhaps the most powerful thing in the world." Yirrow continued. "However, it is also the worst drug in existence. It gives impossible highs, offer euphoria to people. However, if one becomes addicted to love, they can never get away from it, when they lack it, they crave it more than anything, and it can lead people in the darkness turning people into monsters."

"So are you saying it is a bad thing to love then?" Naruto asked the only question that came to his mind during Yirrow's speech.

"No." Yirrow answered bluntly. "Love can also be empowering. It can be a powerful driving force, giving people that edge, something worth fighting for. In fact, I commend you Naruto for pursuing love, but I would caution you as well. Be wary of those who would use it as a weapon against you, to give themselves an advantage over you and weaken you."

Naruto's face fell blank at the words, as he looked back out to the sunset. Thoughts plagued his mind. '_Would my feelings for her put Lucy in danger?_' He would seriously at the idea of Lucy being hurt as a mean to hurt him, before he shook his head clear of the thoughts, his eyes snapping open to lock with the horizon. '_It doesn't matter, whatever danger is posed towards Lucy, I will always be there to protect her…'_

* * *

><p>Naruto stared at Riegin, yet despite the leader of the Shēngxiào's request a happy smile grew on his face as he stared down towards the summon gun. It began glowing in a faint light, and when he looked back towards the Dragon summon, Riegin was accompanied by his fellow spirits, Leiru, Wiin, Elife, and Yirrow, all staring back at the blond mage with anticipation for his answer.<p>

"I've had great memories with all of you, even Riegin…" Naruto chuckled out in a soft whisper, "And if it has to end here, I won't be sad. Maybe we will see each other again one day. I've always prioritised your happiness over my own, so I promise I will never forget any of you." He smiled bigger, before looking towards Riegin directly. "I accept the terms of your request. I free all of you from my control, go be free and wait for someone even more worthy of your companionship than I was." A small tear fell from his eye as he walked over to Riegin, placing his Contract Gun into the summons hand.

He took a few steps away from his summons, looking at them for the final time, proud smiles grew on their faces, and even Riegin had managed to form a smile on his usually dead serious face. "You pass my challenge…" Riegin spoke softly to the blond mage, whose eyes opened wide eyed in shock. "I reign over the Shēngxiào, as such, my concern is only for their safety and happiness," Riegin continued noting the stunned to silence etched on the blonde's face. "My owner must prove that he cares for his spirits even more than he does for himself, to relinquish his own happiness in exchange for theirs. This is what you proved Naruto, and now I will work with you as your partner."

A smile regrew on Naruto's face, "That was a dirty trick!" He spoke with slight anger, but laughed nonetheless, wiping the tears from his face.

Riegin chuckled slightly at the blond mage's response. "And now, there is something that must be done." Riegin continued, regaining the blond attention. "Usually you must wait until have recruit six of the Shēngxiào before this new gift is given, however, since I am the leader of the Shēngxiào, and due to Spedisie targeting you, I shall make an exception this one time…"

The Dragon summon held up the golden Contract Gun, which began to glow in an abnormally bright golden light, Naruto could only make out the outline of the gun changing. As they light dimmed, Naruto now saw the full extent of what had been done to his contract gun.

The gun had grown larger in size, coloured in an even brighter gold colour. The biggest change came in the fact that the gun was now double barrelled, with two slots being visible on either side of the gun. Along the barrel of the gun, intrinsic designs of five animals were shown, a Dragon, Rat, and Tiger on the left barrel and a Snake and Dog on the right barrel. "With this, you may now summon up to two of the Shēngxiào at the same time, use this new power carefully, some of our powers blend better than others." Riegin explained, throwing the gun back to Naruto.

The blond mage caught it easily enough; looking back to the five spirits he beamed a large grin in their direction. "I promise I won't let you down, my partners, my teammates, my friends…"

* * *

><p>The next day was sunny, warm and bright, as if the weather reflected Naruto's feelings. He stood in the guild hall with Lucy and Natsu, as well as Gray and Erza, even Makarov was in the guild hall sitting on the bar with Mirajane working behind it.<p>

The atmosphere was relaxing, and calm, as everyone spoke and laughed. It was serene, it almost made Naruto want to sleep.

'_Wait… sleep?_' Naruto thought with confusion before he let out a small yawn, he looked around; everyone else in the guild began to feel the same thing, some even already falling fast asleep. He looked towards the Guild Master, who felt the impact as well, slurring his words with tiredness.

Suddenly everyone fell asleep, "Lucy!" He called as the girl fell asleep, leaning backwards and almost knocking her head off the floor if it weren't for Naruto's quickly reflexes to catch her quickly and lower her gently onto the floor.

The front doors to the guild suddenly opened, a man wearing a black cloak and a black bandana with a silver forehead protector, and a green mask obscuring the bottom half of his face walked in. His body was completely covered in bandages, save for his sandal adorned feet. Large baggy pants came from his shins up to his waist yet did not connect, seeming to float on his legs, his body was considerably thinner, wearing blue cloth over his torso and blue gloves. On his back were five massive staves, each one made out of a different wood with a different design.

The man walked straight up towards the master, and Naruto quickly ran in front of the old man, crouching into a fight ready stance. "Master!" He called out protectively. _'Though I don't know how long I can last in this condition, I have to protect the guild!'_

"It's alright, Naruto, this is Mystogan, he's a member of Fairy Tail's S-Class Rank, he puts everyone to sleep when he comes because he doesn't like people seeing his face." The old man explained, calling off Naruto's protection.

"Only those with incredibly powerful magical aura and willpower can withstand my _**Sleep Magic**_," The man, Mystogan spoke in a calm voice, walking past Makarov and Naruto towards the request board, picking the first job he saw. "In fact, in Fairy Tail, only Master, Gildarts and Laxus can withstand it. So my question is why is he still awake?" He asked showing Makarov the job he was taking.

"I guess Naruto must have incredibly powerful magical aura and willpower then." Makarov responded groggily, still under the effects of the _**Sleep Magic**_.

Mystogan's head turned quickly to Naruto, almost as if he was surprised. "This is Naruto?" Even his voiced was laced with slight surprise, waiting for Makarov's nod before continuing. "Master, I would ask that Naruto accompanies me on this job."

"Strange, you've only ever worked alone, however I will allow it if it makes you wake everyone else up sooner." Makarov spoke, before turning to the blond mage. "Go with Mystogan, Naruto. I can vouch that he is strong and dependable, and he is also fiercely loyal to Fairy Tail."

Naruto nodded at the old man, before turning to the masked mage. "I'll meet you outside then." Naruto spoke before slowly making his way towards the doors.

"So what's up, Mystogan, really?" Makarov asked once Naruto was out of earshot. "As soon as you heard his name you became interested in him? And how is it you already know Naruto's name?"

"We have always known that Laxus' Raijinshuu is incomplete, that Laxus has been waiting for some to mark the final corner. We have always known Laxus would target his fourth member soon, and I have been watching Laxus by your command. It appears Naruto is that target." Mystogan responded to Makarov's surprise. "I want to check where Naruto's true loyalties lie, and if he will betray the good of the guild or not." The masked mage finished before disappearing in a mist.

"Mystogan, wait!" Makarov shouted to halt the mage, but to no avail. As soon as he disappeared everyone began waking up, everyone looking around tiredly and groggily, but all still appeared to know what had happened. "That Mystogan, always so reclusive!" Members of the guild shouted, before starting to talk about the mysterious S-Class mage.

"Hey, where's Naruto?" Lucy asked with confusion, when she had fell asleep, Naruto was right beside her, and now she had woken up, he was gone.

"He went on a job with Mystogan." Makarov grumbled out, clearly not happy that the masked mage had left him with many riddles and questions.

The guild collectively gasped with shock at the revelation. "WHAT!"

* * *

><p>"Pathetic!" A tall and muscular man with long, spiky black hair, slicked back revealing his forehead shouted in a mocking tone as he pinned, the small blue haired girl in between her two team mates on a tree. He had red eyes with slitted dark pupils, and no visible eyebrows. Most of his exposed body was covered in sets of simple, round studs. The most visible studs are on his face, with three of them above each of his eyes, three on each side of his nose, and two on his chin, just below his mouth. His ears are adorned by two sets of five earrings each. He also sports four studs on each of his forearms, with his right one being covered in scars. His guild stamp was located at the top of his right shoulder. His clothing consisted of a shabby, black, sleeveless tunic with studded edges, with a studded belt around his waist, loose whitish pants tucked inside studded black boots, and a pair of studded brown gloves paired with similarly studded wristbands. He also sported a distinctive wing-like ornament, seemingly made of feathers jutting upwards, over his right shoulder, attached to his tunic by a large stud.<p>

"Don't you think you took it a bit too far, Gajeel? Master specifically instructed that they be kept alive." A deeper voice rang out, as footsteps resounded as he approached the other man.

The first man, Gajeel chuckled in amusement. "It's not like you to show worry, sympathy or mercy." He laughed mockingly. "Besides, they are still alive, and even to do that was a task for me. Pain is never too much for these Fairy trash."

The other man shrugged his massive shoulders impassively. "Whatever, what matters is that Fairy Tail gets the message." He answered as he threw three large gravestones in front of each one of the Fairy Tail members, Levy, Droy and Jet was written on each of them, as well as the guild stamp on Gajeel's shoulder. "Finish up here before we attract any unwanted attention."

"And who put you in charge, Zabrock?" Gajeel responded angrily, before his arm morphed into a large iron brand, shaped like his guild insignia, he dabbed it into the blood left on the floor from the three Fairy Tail members, before painfully pushing it onto the blue haired girl's stomach, leaving their guild stamp on her stomach. "It's finally time to show Fiore that Phantom Lord is the top guild!" Gajeel laughed as he and his mysterious accomplice left the scene, leaving behind the faint breathing of Shadow Gear…

* * *

><p><strong>AN:** Picture of Elife's Medusa form is on my profile


	10. The Phantom And The Fairy

**A/N:** Yo. Rinne here. Well, on September 3rd it will be officially my 2 year aniversary as a Fanfic writer, so I was planning to update all of my in-progress stories for it, so eight new chapters on the 3rd, however that might not be possible so I'm updating what I can when I can, but I will try and update every story first before carrying on.

Well I've survived two years, and this passed year my updates have been slow and few and far between... okay fuck it, they've been pretty non-existant, it's been a really tough year for me and there's been a lot of pressure on me. But things are picking up. But I won't bore you with details, all you guys want to know about is the updates. I don't have to celebrate my aniversary as a Fanfic writer. However, despite my shitty upload speed and general disregard for my stories, you guys have stuck by and supported my fics, still waiting eagerly for each chapter, so this is my aniversary present to you guysd. I don't really car about high reviews at this moment in time because I honestly don't deserve them. But hopefully this will suffice for now.

Anyways, onto the chapter.

* * *

><p>"That job wasn't as hard as I was anticipating, though it was a bit tiring." Naruto spoke, breaking the silence as he and Mistgun walked down a path in the middle of the forest. For a Job partner, Mistgun had said nothing. Even after completing it and returning to collect the pay now had he barely spoken more than five sentences.<p>

Still the masked mage didn't reply to Naruto's attempts to make conversation, something that was beginning to annoy Naruto. "So why did you want me to join you on this job as soon as you heard my name?"

"Laxus." Mistgun finally answered, although it confused the blond, the name wasn't unfamiliar, that Evergreen constantly spoke of him as if he was a God. "He has recruited three members of Fairy Tail, named the Raijinshuu, for now they remain as his personal bodyguards, however the Master believes there is an ulterior motive behind their formation. The he became even more estranged from the guild than he already is, taking three of Fairy Tail's strongest mages with him."

"So what's this got to do with me?" Naruto asked, confused about his part in this.

"The Master and I believe that there is still one spot open in the Raijinshuu, and we believe he is going to recruit you into it. You're a new member, haven't really made any strong connections with the other guild members, and you are a powerful mage, everything that Laxus values." Mistgun replied quickly, give a brief explanation to the blond mage.

"And why are you so sure he's recruiting one more member?" Naruto responded with yet another question.

"He tried to recruit me into it a few months ago. I refused." Mistgun answered bluntly. "We believe Laxus has targeted you for his fourth and final member, soon he may make the invitation."

"And what if I refuse?"

"Impossible." Mistgun answered bluntly again. "The invitation is impossible to refuse. When I declined, Laxus challenged me to a fight which ended in a draw, although he gained important information and leverage against me during the battle. You are strong Naruto, but you are not on his level. He will destroy you if you refuse."

"And what is this leverage he received?" Naruto frowned at Mistgun's underestimation of his abilities.

"The Master will consult you further on the matter of Laxus." Mistgun answered, dodging the blond mage's most recent question. "Of course this is all hypothetical at the moment. Laxus hasn't made a move yet."

* * *

><p>Members of the town and Fairy Tail clamoured around the scene in shock. Having lifelessly from a tree were Levy, Jet and Droy, each one held up by metal braces over their wrists. Branded onto Levy's stomach was the Phantom Lord insignia. At the base of the tree were three headstones, each topped with the Fairy Tail insignia carved expertly into the stone, the three names were carved into the headstones followed by the Phantom Lord insignia again underneath the.<p>

"This is too far." Unmatched fury filled Natsu's face as he stared at the three of them, battered and bruised in the tree with a stunned Lucy, Gray and Erza.

The crowd began parting and went silent as the small old Master of Makarov made his way to the tree, looking up at the three of them once more before lowering his head, a hand covering his eyes, yet one teardrop escaped, falling to the floor with a small splash.

"Destroying our guild I could tolerate, but this…" His head rose up anger, complete rage bulged the veins out on his forehead. "No father can stand idly by while the blood of his children is spilled. THIS CANNOT BE FORGIVEN AND LEFT UNANSWERED." His smiley face staff was snapped in half by his grip tightening ferociously.

He turned towards the Fairy Tail members; expressions of anger covered all of their faces. "FAIRY TAIL GOES TO WAR!"

* * *

><p>"What have you learned? And be quick, I'm going on a job soon." Laxus asked his three members of the Raijinshuu. He had kept all them out of Fairy Tail, knowing that Makarov would declare war on Phantom Lord as soon as he saw Shadow Gear. Now the guild was deserted, his Raijinshuu were gathered around him whilst he sat on a bench.<p>

"Makarov has led Fairy Tail to Phantom Lord's Headquarters, I expect they will not be back until revenge has been delivered." Evergreen answered quickly.

"As I had promised, Phantom Lord made their move and Makarov retaliated exactly as planned." Laxus responded with a cool smirk. "Bixlow, watch Naruto during the fight with your dolls, see how he responds to this threat against Fairy Tail."

The Raijinshuu members all seemed to quieten down. "Uh… Laxus." Fried finally spoke. "Naruto is not in Fairy Tail. He left with Mystogan on a job before they went to war."

Laxus only laughed loudly at the news. "So even Mystogan took an interest in him!" He laughed loudly. "Don't worry about it. I'm sure Naruto will join the battle sooner or later, but even that reclusive Mystogan sees potential in him, how interesting…" Laxus mused, his interest in Naruto seeming to spark further with the news.

"So what do you want us to do, Laxus?" Bixlow asked, his tongue remaining outside his mouth even as he spoke.

"Don't enter the fight. Watch Naruto through one of your dolls, Bixlow. Evaluate who is worthy of remaining in MY Fairy Tail, and watch Naruto closely when he arrives." Laxus repeated, standing up from the bench. "You three stay here and protect the guild hall in case anyone attempts to attack and destroy it. I won't have this hall destroyed only the weaker members of Fairy Tail leave it."

* * *

><p>"Juvia's <em><strong>Water Lock<strong>_ can never be broken." The blue haired girl spoke in a dull tone as Lucy lost consciousness in the sphere of water.

"Tres Bien!" The green haired man half hidden in the pavement; Sol spoke to the clue clothed woman, Juvia.

"Don't worry. Juvia will not kill you." Juvia continued speaking to the blond haired girl in the water. "Because it is Juvia's job to bring you back… Lucy Heartfilia-sama." She finished as she approached the sphere of water. "Capture accomplished."

"Victoire!" The green haired man answered in return to Juvia. They soon parted from the scene, the only thing left behind to prove they were even there were the puddles from the 'sunshower' and Lucy's keys, left in their holder on the cold went pavement.

* * *

><p>Naruto suddenly turned around, facing towards the direction they had come, towards Fairy Tail. Something gave him an ominous feeling. <em>'I have a bad feeling… Lucy is in danger….'<em>

Quickly he drew his contract gun and one of his discs. "**Load Platinum Disc.**" He spoke, loading the disc into the gun. "_**Summon: Sixth Year Sishi: Elife the Snake!**_" He fired the gun, and in a moment of blinding, glittering light, the snake summon appeared, wrapped around Naruto, her trademark apple in one hand and her other hand running through Naruto's blond locks.

"Elife, I need you to find out what is happening with Fairy Tail." He spoke quickly. The snake spirit nodded, slithering off him and onto the floor, where she closed her eyes and her tail began vibrating.

"Fairy Tail has entered war." She responded after a few seconds. "Phantom Lord members destroyed the guild and attacked that Team Shadow Gear."

'_Levy, Jet, Droy…'_ Naruto's mind thought about the three members of Shadow Gear, they weren't exactly the biggest threat out there, whoever had done this did it to send a message, not out of a grudge. "What else?"

"It was Master Makarov that declared war in retaliation for Shadow Gear attack. Fairy Tail have already marched towards Phantom Lord headquarters." Elife continued, elaborating further.

"And what about Lucy? She's not built for war." Naruto pointed out in a slightly higher worried and agitated tone.

"She has been attacked and kidnapped, Naruto-kun. By two members of Phantom Lord's Element 4; Juvia Lockser and Sol, she's been taken to Phantom Lord to be used as bait for Fairy Tail's destruction before being handed back to her Father-"

"I'm going." Naruto butted in, turning towards the masked Mistgun. "Fairy Tail is your guild as well. Are you coming?"

"You may go, but I cannot." Mistgun replied, allowing Naruto to abandon the job. "I have to finish this job, then I have other matters to attend to. Besides, with you and Erza, and even Gray and Natsu there, I would not be needed." He turned, continuing to walk away from the blond. "I would hurry if I were you, every second wasted is a second closer to Fairy Tail members being harmed." Mistgun spoke before vanishing in a translucent mist.

Naruto's brow furrowed at Mistgun's actions, why would he abandon Fairy Tail? "Let's go, Elife!" He spoke, scooping the large snake up.

"That mage, he's not a bad person." Elife spoke to the blond as he ran towards Fairy Tail./ "He plans on destroying Phantom Lord's branches will you deal with the main headquarters. He has placed a lot of faith in your strength, Naruto." Elife said before disappearing in a light, returning to the spirit world, lessening the load and allowing Naruto to run a lot faster.

Naruto eyes widened at Mistgun's actions, before a smile grew on his face. "Then I won't let him down!"

* * *

><p>"Only Titania Erza is here… Laxus and Mistgun are staying out of the spotlight… those arrogant bastards, and Gildarts… Well he's never at the guild anyway apparently." Sounds of war filled the small room they sat in in the tallest tower of Phantom Lord's Headquarters. Magic collided with other humans or the battleground, sounds of screaming and pain when an attacker connected to his opponent. "So when do we get to join in? You and I, Zabrock. We are the strongest in Phantom Lord, why must we sit out?"<p>

"Sol does make a good decoy, doesn't he? He plays his old part well, pretending to be the personification of Earth in the Element 4, while taking all the pressure and publicity away from me." Zabrock answered, intentionally dodging Gajeel's question for the time being, "Master Jose has given us strict orders. We are to wait until the majority of Phantom Lord members have been defeated and Fairy Tail is worn out and tired before we attack."

Gajeel grinned maliciously with news. "That will be soon. Juvia has just been brought down by that Ice-Make mage from Fairy Tail. And Fairy Tail are still confused and in shambles why the Jupiter Cannon is still firing even though Aria was taken down by that Titania's swords. It appears Titania is going to use herself as a shield against the Jupiter Cannon's blast."

Zabrock similarly grinned as he stood up. "That's a shame, I was hoping to see if Titania lived up to her fearsome reputation. Jupiter will completely break her down if it doesn't kill her instantly. And there is no pride in killing a wounded lion." He spoke, before turning to Gajeel. "Gajeel, you go after the target. She may be of some use in the battle. I'll take care of the trash below." He continued, before splitting apart from the _**Iron Dragon Slayer**_.

* * *

><p>Members of Fairy Tail, including Natsu and Erza began regrouping at the centre of Phantom's guild hall. They had been given a moments rest due to their being no more members of Phantom to pummel at the moment.<p>

"Why haven't we seen Gajeel yet?" Erza asked suspiciously, according to his profile. He was a battle loving individual who hated Fairy Tail, shouldn't he had been the first person to intercept them if that were true?

Suddenly a colossal crash was heard, the floor began cracking under the sheer weight of what sounded like two tons of rock dropping onto it, when they looked at the source, a dust cloud masked whatever had caused it, yet the edges of a newly formed crater in the ground could be seen.

A powerful magical aura began resonating from the cloud as it began dissipating. '_Whatever it is. It's powerful, stronger than my own._' Erza thought as the cloud almost revealed the cause of the crash.

It was a boy, around their own age that had caused the damage. He was not a colossus, yet he easily stood a head taller than Gray, who was by no means a short man. He stood roughly the same size as Laxus, if not even taller, and built at the same physique as Laxus, who stood by far muscular than the lean Natsu or Gray. His clothing consisted of dark grey pants with chains connected to the pockets tucked into black steel-toe cap boots. Covering his torso was a black muscle shirt, followed by a brown sleeveless hooded duster jacket and a pair of black gloves, which extended all the way to his jacket. The hood of his jacket was up, concealing his face in shadow with the exception of his piercing silver eyes which managed to glow through the darkness and the bottom half of his face, where a smirk could be seen, not one of cockiness or smugness, but confidence in himself. The hood was up. Yet sandy brown loacks of hair still pushed their way from the confines, jutting themselves into view around his neck.

"Gajeel is the least of your concerns at the moment." His voice was articulate, calm even. There was no anger or gruffness present, it matched the smirk on his face perfectly. "I am. The name is Zabrock Granfall, you would do well to remember it."

"I've heard of him, the reclusive member of Phantom Lord, not on par with Mistgun's reclusiveness but still a very private individual. 'Gravemaker' Zabrock, even Sorcerer's magazine didn't know what he looked like. He's meant to be another Phantom S-Class Mage." Erza admitted to the Fairy Tail group.

"Recognition is always flattering, Titania." His smile grew slightly. "Now, in order to stop the Jupiter Cannon. You're going to have to beat me."

"That's a lie!" Natsu screamed in response. "It's the Element 4 that are linked to the cannon, and there's only one guy left! We've beat Sol, Juvia and Totomaru!"

Zabrock only responded with a small chuckle. "True, but what if Sol no longer held that title?" He asked to their utter surprise. "He does play the part of my decoy well, doesn't he?"

"So in order to stop it, we still need to be this guy and Aria." Erza deducted, staring down the hooded mage. Other members of Fairy Tail also began taking a fighting stance against him.

Zabrock's smirk turned to a wide grin as he crouched down into a stance. "I'll make you a deal. If any of you force me to have to use magic, I'll build you all fine gravestones."

"YOU HELPED GAJEEL ATTACK FAIRY TAIL!" Natsu's fury knew no bounds, he knew instantly as he remembered the three gravestones at the bottom of the tree under Shadow Gear. He charged full speed at the larger mage, his fist alit with red hot flames.

A gigantic fist connected with the side of his face, Zabrock had simply swung his arm and connected with the rosy haired mage, swatting him like a fly into the wall to the left of him. Zabrock stared over at the mess he made, ignoring perhaps the biggest Fairy Tail threat for the moment.

He looked back, Erza had taken her chance. In mid-air and her sword above her she swiped down hard on the mage with all her might.

And the eyes of Fairy Tail widened in horror, the blade shattered of his skin, not even leaving a scratch. "Pathetic." He uttered bluntly, before grabbing Erza by her legs. In mid-air she could do nothing to counter. He swung his arms over his head and with his force, pulled them back, launching Erza into the ground, leaving a crater in the wake.

The force was enough to lift Erza back into the air. Zabrock started his second assault on her, it was one boot into her midsection, launching her back into the ground and away from him, her body skimming across the cold hard floor like a pebble on the water.

The silver haired mage then turned to the other members of Fairy Tail, the smirk present again on his face as he cracked his knuckles. "So… who's grave am I digging next?" He chuckled before he made his move. Nothing was safe from him, with sheer brute strength and force alone he decimated everyone who came close to him, every member of Fairy Tail was not safe. He fists launched people through walls. His grapples broke the earth beneath them. His kicks launched mages to the sky above. And he had yet to use a single magical ability.

"Hey, Fairy Tail!" Even Zabrock stopped at the voice calling, as the downed members of Fairy Tail recovered to see who called them. "Look what I've got!" A cackling laugh resonated through Phantom's ruined guild. Gajeel Redfox, Ace of Phantom Lord and _**Iron Dragon Slayer**_ had Lucy, battered and bruised, hanging in the air by her hair clumped up into his fist.

"If you can't even beat Zabrock, there's definitely no way you're gonna free her from me!" Gajeel laughed out evilly once again.

"You bastard!" Natsu screamed towards the black haired mage, who's self-righteous grin only grew further.

"Stupid Salamander, you're a disgrace to _**Dragon Slayers**_, to think that you-!"

He was cut off by a boot connecting to his face, he couldn't even see the person behind the surprise attack. His grip on the girl had been released with the surprise attack, and his body rocketed into the nearby wall, halting as his back connected to it and sliding down to the ground.

Lucy flew up into the air until she landed in someone's arms bridal style. She finally open her eyes, and a warm smile couldn't help but grow back on her face. "For a minute, I didn't know if you would get here in time…. But you came." A tear slid down her face as she stared up to those familiar ocean blue eyes, surrounded by a mop of spiky blonde hair. Naruto's warm smile stared back at her.

They lingered in this moment for only a second, before he let her down to the floor. "Stay safe, Lucy. This will be over soon." He spoke calmly, before looking towards Natsu. "Natsu! You go after Gajeel!" He ordered before turning to Erza, who had managed to rise to her feet once again. "Erza, you go and get Aria! I'll deal with this one!" He shouted, before he disappeared from the spot.

"_**Rasen: Gan!**_" Zabrock had no time to react, the blond was just suddenly crouched down in front of him, an orb of blue, swirling magic in his palm. He thrust the attack into Zabrock's stomach, and the larger mage's eyes widened with shock and pain.

'_He managed to hurt me… hurt this body!_' Was the only thought that ran through the silver haired mage's mind as he was launched across the guild hall, other fights had ceased to see the events occurring between the two mages, Phantom Lord members stood stunned at what had just occurred.

"Nobody interfere!" Naruto roared to both Fairy Tail members and Phantom Lord members as he calmly walked towards the down Zabrock, who lay all the way at the other side of the guild hall.

Zabrock returned to his feet easily enough, still a smile was plastered on his face. "Oh, so you're the real prize here…" He chuckled out as he grinned madly.

Naruto slipped into a fighting stance as he got closer. "**For what you've done to Fairy Tail…**" His head lifted menacingly, his eyes had darkened with pure rage as he glared down the hooded mage. "**I'm gonna**_** BREAK YOU**_**!**"

* * *

><p><strong>AN:** There wel have it. Yes, Zabrock is from Oracion Eight, used with permission by Agurra of the Darkness. You see, I wanted Naruto to fight someone OC, instead of taking a battle away from canon, so I added Zabrock to combat Naruto.

So this chapter kinda was a let down in length, you see two scene were canon and after writing nothing but my own stuff I hate having to rewrite canon, I mean it's canon, you know what happens. But I needed them to create the plot of the chapter.

Kinda like Naruto's reaction at the end of the chapter. And I skipped the mission with Mistgun because I simply couldn't think of something good for them to do. However, the reason why Mistgun asked him has been shown and it will lead somewhere.

Well that's pretty much it, see you on the next chapter. I can't give you a date but it will be after 3rd/9/2012


	11. Treasures

Naruto continued glaring menacingly at the larger mage as he rose to his feet, fury brimmed off his eyes, and every muscle twitched and ached for vengeance for what he did to Fairy Tail, to Shadow Gear, to Lucy. "There is no redemption for the likes of you." Naruto spat venom with every syllable.

"Good, because I didn't ask for your forgiveness." Zabrock gave off a cocky smirk at the blond mage, battles continued around them, battle cries and screams of pain echoed around them. "Your magic, it's interesting, a new challenge for my body. But I still believe you will not make me use any of my magic."

Naruto's brow furrowed at the insult, his eyes darted to his new double barrel summon gun, he was itching to try it out. '_No._' His head snapped up, glaring back towards the hooded mage. '_This is more personal, I will not concern my spirits with this!_'

'_If it personal to you, Naruto. Then it is personal to us. Your rage flows through us!'_ He heard Yirrow's voice resonate in his mind. '_Summon us, and let us take the appropriate course of action against this monster!'_

Naruto smirked, taking out his new gun and two Platinum Discs. 'I bet you two work great together!' He thought confidently. "Load Platinum Discs!" Naruto called out, loading both discs into the gun. "_**Summon: Third Year Yinshi: Wiin the Tiger! Eleventh Year Xushi: Yirrow the Dog!"**_

The two lights flashed brightly and when they dimmed Wiin and Yirrow, in his _**Battle Forme**_, the forme Naruto first saw after the curse infected Yirrow ceased.

"It's been a long time since we stood together like this." Wiin spoke to his fellow spirit, drawing the two swords Naruto had bought him earlier.

"Yes." Yirrow responded, his hand tightening around his hammer sceptre. "Imagine in Naruto unlocked _that_. Us, standing together with Sverepeeri, Lorciton, or even Treinatien or Ownik. The most powerful battle oriented Shēngxiào spirits, behind Riegin."

"Sverepeeri and Lorciton make the best combination themselves, Ownik is a fool, a powerful fool, but a fool nonetheless, and Treinatien, he is too stubborn to accept a spirit partner. We are the brothers of battle." Wiin responded with a confident smirk.

"What are you two talking about?" Naruto asked with confusion after listening to the two spirits ramble.

"Apologies Naruto, we are two old beings reminiscing. However, thoughts of days past have come to an end. YOU, are our future now Naruto." Yirrow spoke with his usual wise tone. Before locking on Zabrock. "Naruto, stand back, it's best you don't get involved when Wiin and I go all out."

"Nah, I fight alongside my spirits. That's my style." Naruto grinned a fox like grin, standing between the pair of larger spirits. "Besides, you're going to need me. This guy, nothing seems to hurt him, except _**Rasen**_."

"Very well." Yirrow answered, "Wiin, you know what to do."

The Tiger spirit nodded. "_**Burst!**_" With a single word he crushed the ground beneath his powerful speed, crouching down before attacking, delivering a powerful kick to Zabrock's stomach, launching him high into the air.

Yirrow charged, not as fast, but still with impressive speed. He ran straight up his Tiger brethren's back and jumped high into the air to greeting the floating hooded mage. He spun in the air and crashed his hammer tipped sceptre into the abdomen of the boy, hitting the same spot that Wiin previously struck. Zabrock's eyes widened as the attack struck, launching him across the hall.

"_**Rasen: Gan!**_" Zabrock's silver eyes widened further when he saw the blond mage suddenly above him, that strange orb of magic in his palm, driving into the same part of his body that had just been attacked twice. The attack drilled him back towards the Earth, his back slamming hard against the harder floor.

Naruto and his spirits landed gracefully back on the other side of the battle field. "Again!" Naruto commanded, and the three charged towards the downed Phantom Lord mage. Wiin arrived first with the help of his _**Burst**_. Grabbing the boy's ankles before lifting and slamming him into the ground with devastating force, before throwing him back up in to the air.

"_**Rasen: Tama**_!" Naruto roared, arriving next, five smaller version of the _**Rasen: Gan**_ shot from each of his fingers, colliding with Zabrock's body creating miniature explosions as they connected.

Yirrow finished the second onslaught with another crippling blow from his hammer into Zabrock's back, launching him straight back into the floor, creating a second crater through the impact.

"Yirrow, did you feel it too?" Wiin asked as he, the dog spirit and their summoner regrouped.

Yirrow nodded as his eyes locked on to where the Phantom mage had crash landed. "Yes, this boy's body. It isn't normal, the bones seemed reinforced. Our blows should have been enough to shatter his body and yet…"

"He isn't even injured…" Naruto stared in utter shock as Zabrock calmly rose to his feet, a wide grin plastered across his partially visible face.

"I won't act like a tough guy and say that didn't hurt," He uttered out to the trip across Phantom Lord's Guild Hall. "But you're going to need something better to damage this body of mine."

With great speed he appeared before Wiin, delivering a powerful punch to the tiger spirit's face. "My bones are indestructible!"

"My mind is unbreakable!" He suddenly turned and delivered a shattering kick to Yirrow's stomach. Launching him away from Naruto as well.

"My spirit is unbending!" Zabrock loomed over Naruto, before delivering a simple head-butt to the blond, hammering him downwards into the ground with his sheer size advantage.

"Although congratulations are in order…" He said as he stared down at the blond trying to regain his senses on the ground. "You've earned yourself a fine tombstone."

He opened his right hand, and from it, stone and earth began forming into a gigantic hammer, which he then clasped with both hands and pulled behind his head. "_**Mortician's Hammer!**_" The Phantom Lord mage yelled as he brought the hammer down with speed over Naruto's body.

'_Shit! I won't be able to dodge in time!_' Naruto cursed in his mind as he brought his arms up to cover his head in preparation for the impact.

But Yirrow and Wiin both dived into the collision, both of them hoisting the massive hammer over their heads, stopping it colliding with their summoner.

"This magic, it's beyond normal Earth Magic, it's heavier, and even stronger!" Wiin cursed as he felt the weight of the hammer over him.

"That is why we cannot let it hit Naruto!" Yirrow responded, and with a mighty push he and Wiin pushed it back up, shock appeared on Zabrock's face as the hammer went back over his head, his body lifting into the air after it.

Then the shock turned to a confident smirk, his legs powered outwards back towards the ground, when they landed his whole body swung, striking the hammer horizontally into Yirrow and Wiin, launching them across the hall and into a wall, both spirits crashed straight through the wall and became out of sight to Naruto.

"Yirrow, Wiin!" Naruto screamed as he stared at the gaping hole in the wall away from him.

"You have _**Teleportation Magic**_, something incredibly rare, it offers you the element of surprise. And that other magic, that is something I've never heard of. _**Pure Magic**_ in its raw form, not being channelled through a medium, how very dangerous." Zabrock commented, staring back down at Naruto. "Then you have an unusual _**Celestial Spirit Summoning**_ as well, creating more problems to defeat you with those decoys and shields running around as well. I haven't faced someone like you before."

"Don't call my spirits decoys or shields!" Naruto bit back at his taller opponent, locking glaring eyes with humoured ones.

"Sorry, pawns then. That is the curse of spirits and their summoners, spirits are destined to be nothing but pawns to their summoners, and summoners become weak because they rely on their spirits power instead of improving their own." Zabrock retorted, small chuckles riding on his breath.

"I'll show you the extent of my power!" Naruto's vicious blue eyes locked with Zabrock's directly in front of his face, Naruto swung his fist towards Zabrock's face, yet the taller mage twisted his upper body to dodge gracefully. Naruto swung again and again, but could not land a hit on the Phantom Mage, each strike being expertly dodged.

Naruto growled in fury, before he suddenly disappeared. Zabrock looked around in every direction, but could not see the blond mage, before a heel connected with the top of his head, smashing his head forwards. _'He teleported to the air space above of me, staying out of my line of sight!'_

"However…" He continued aloud as he looked back to where Naruto had landed, the blond stood out of breath, panting heavily as he glared at his opponent. "Your attacks are still weak without magic."

"_**Then try ours on for size!**_" Wiin and Yirrow appeared at either side of him to Zabrock's surprise, each swinging a weapon of their choice into his torso, Yirrow, his hammer sceptre, and Wiin, his twin swords, each connected into the boy's body, creating a resounding echoing sound as they connected.

But the boy did not move from his position. Even with all their might he was not affected by their attack. "_**Stone Skin…**_" Zabrock muttered out as he looked up towards both the spirits, his skin turning into a grey colour from his chest outwards. His eyes darted towards Wiin, locking with the Tiger Spirit. "Your attack was stronger."

His fist tightly clenched, around it the air seemed to crack before he plough his fist into the side of Wiin's face. "_**Tectonic Impact!**_" A shockwave exploded from Zabrock's fist as it connected with Wiin. A sickening crunch was heard as Wiin flew across the room. Zabrock then turned to Yirrow before striking with the same attack, Yirrow took the full brunt of the attack, launching him back into the ground.

"My bones…" Yirrow stammered out, his body twitching from the aftermath of the attack. "They have been broken from the attack. Naruto, I must return to heal." Yirrow finished weakly before he disappeared from the human world.

"Be safe Naruto, do not let his magic hit you. If necessary, summon Riegin…" Wiin spoke equally as weakly, his body also twitching as he similarly disappeared in a faint glow.

"So now your pawns are out of the way." Naruto glared back at Zabrock. "Now I will test your full potential." His palms slapped together with a loud clap. "_**Grave Hail!**_"

From above tombstones began raining down heavily, as if Naruto had been caught in some abstract rainstorm. He quickly rose to his feet and began dodging each tombstone before it could hit him. The blond danced around the attack's ranged as tombstones drilled into the floor surrounding him. '_I've got to move now!_' Naruto quickly thought, before he disappeared, reappearing behind Zabrock.

"_**Rasen: Taihō!**_" Naruto screamed as he began powering his cannon attack.

"_**Last Burial!**_" Zabrock turned, slamming both palms into the ground, four slats of earth rose around Naruto, locking him into a coffin like cage. _'Shit!_' Naruto cursed inwardly as the last bit of light began being cut off from him as the box of earth closed.

"_**Last Burial**_ usually buries my opponent countless feet below the Earth surface quickly, but considering your teleportation, I'll speed the process up!" Zabrock exclaimed as he jumped upwards, the Earth hammer forming in his hands once again. "_**Mortician's Hammer!**_" Zabrock slammed the hammer onto the top of the coffin, launching the box coffin through the floor and towards the centre of the hole, leaving a gaping hole in the floor. Zabrock calmly approached the hole, listening to the burrowing sound of the coffin descending through the earth's crust. "I'm sorry, but yours will be an empty grave. This attack leaves nothing to bury, as the body is already lost to the Earth. But you've earned yourself a fine tombstone. I'll see to it tha-"

"_**Rasen: Taihō**_!" Was all he heard before he was hit with a beam of that spiralling pure magic from behind, the blast drilled into his back, ploughing him through the floor.

Zabrock burst out of the rubble, staring upwards, there the blond stood on one of the beams supported the building. Glaring back down at him. "How!?" The phantom mage screamed up at the blond.

"Don't underestimate me!" Naruto yelled back, before appearing right in front of him, delivering a swift kick to Zabrock's face, booting him away once again. "Your attacks are fast, and you are physically stronger than me, but you will never match my speed."

As Zabrock rose, Naruto noticed that his hood had fallen backwards, revealing his full face. When he turned Naruto was surprised to see the boy near enough his own age, the rest of his sandy brown hair was slightly shorter than his fringe, and possessed wavy spikes to it, his silver eyes still pierced through the light even after they were no longer obscured. His guild stamp was now visible as well, a dark silver Phantom Lord Insignia was stamped over his left eye, hitting his forehead and cheekbone as well.

"Your pawns have come and been lost, now it's time I bring mine to the battle to the battlefield." He spoke calmly, not bothering to lift his hood back up. "_**Reign of the Gargoyles!**_" His palms slammed into the ground once again, on cue, hands made of earth burst from the ground, bodies followed each one climbing out of the ground until 20 stood ready for battle.

But it wasn't the number that shock Naruto, it was their design. The statues… these Gargoyles, they were exactly the same as the ones in the Drifting Mountains, but perfected. Both modules weren't cracked and disfigured as the others were, and even more detail had been put into them, their armour now had a scaly design, as if it were crafted out of a reptiles skin. And new equipment was held as well, some hold dual swords or oversized tomahawks. The airborne gargoyles even had bows and arrows. '_Damn!_' Naruto mused in his mind thinking back to the journal he was fixated on only a few days ago.

_**-Flashback-Break-**_

"Hey, Naruto!" Lucy exclaimed cheerfully as she entered his apartment, walking through to the living room, there Naruto lounged on his couch, his eyes fixed and a tattered book. "I haven't seen you for a while, I just got back from my job with Natsu, and Levy said you had got back from that job with Shadow Gear a few days ago, but you haven't been to the guild for a while?" She asked inquisitively, but she received no response, not even acknowledgement of her statement.

She moved closer, waving her hand between Naruto's eyes and the journal. "Hello!" This seemed to work, his head snapped to meet her eye to eye.

"Oh Lucy, sorry, I didn't hear you come in." He responded with a wide, embarrassed grin, snapping the book shut and putting it onto the coffee table in the middle of the room.

"What were you reading?" She asked puzzled, accepting his response as truth, she too sometimes got so deep into a book she would forget the world around her.

"It's a journal, I found it in the Drifting Mountains, the locals believed it was a God that was living in there. But by the sound of this journal, it was just a human. It's fascinating, listening to how this person has aged and changed with time, I wonder what this person is like face to face." He smiled solemnly down at the book.

"Really? Levy said there were Gargoyles that came to life on the job. Tell me all about it!" She spoke with excitement.

Naruto's stomach growled at the most inappropriate of moments, leaving a faint red tint on his cheeks. "How about we get some lunch first, I'm pretty hungry. I'll tell you about it then."

"Sounds okay to me." She responded with a happy smile.

_**-Flashback-Break-End-**_

"So you're the 'God' of the Drifting Mountains, eh?" A smirk grew on Naruto's face. "You're nothing like I imagined you'd be after reading that journal." _'Though I had believed it was Spedisie that brought the Gargoyles to life..'_

"What did you say?" Anger seemed to fill Zabrock's face as Naruto spoke, his words spat out of his mouth with venom.

"I supposed you booby-trapped it so when the journal was removed from the pedestal the Gargoyles would come to life." Naruto began making assumptions of his previous events within the Drifting Mountains.

"No, they were always supposed to remain lifeless, as memories of my time in that home, as a display of my progression through time." Zabrock responded, his face filling with more anger.

"Oh, well it doesn't matter anyway." Naruto shrugged his shoulders nonchalantly, so Spedisie did bring those Gargoyles to life. '_But how?_'

"What did you do to my treasures?" Zabrock's teeth clenched with fury at Naruto's laid back response moments ago.

"Someone else brought them to life, and they attacked me and my friends-"

"WHAT DID YOU DO TO THEM!?" Zabrock roared with uttermost rage, the Earth around him cracked and crumbled at a powerful release of magical aura. "DESTROY HIM!" He ordered his Gargoyles, all of them beginning to move towards Naruto with greater speed than their predecessors.

Naruto smirked, charging _**Rasen: Gan**_ in both hands before disappearing in a yellow blur, he teleported to each individual Gargoyles, destroying it before moving to the next, within seconds all twenty had been destroyed.

Yet as he focused on the Gargoyles he didn't see Zabrock move, soon the mage was within reach of him, his fist cocked back with that cracked air surrounded it. "_**Tectonic Impact!**_" He ploughed his fist into Naruto's chest. And a shockwave exploded from the contact.

Now Naruto understood why Yirrow and Wiin's bodies twitched wildly after they were hit by the attack. He could feel his bones vibrate because of the attack, he felt his bones crack and fracture because of the wild vibrations, the shockwave even went down into his nerves, he lost control of his own body, slumping down in the crater that had been created when his body connected with the floor.

"You believed you were fighting for redemption for what I had done to Fairy Tail." Zabrock stared down maniacally at him, his eyes wide and bloodshot with pure fathom and rage. "Now I do the same. You have destroyed and stolen my precious treasures. Because of that, _**I**_ will _**BREAK YOU!**_"


	12. Strongest Weapon - Strongest Shield

"You've desecrated my home! Destroyed my treasures!" Zabrock screamed with fury, the seismic energy enveloping his foot. "You don't even deserve a grave! _**Tectonic Shock**_!" He ploughed his foot into the ground, by the heel first, aiming it at the blond.

The Earth tore upwards with small mountainous rubble, it caught Naruto off guard. One segment shot up beneath his feet, knocking him off balance and into the air. Within moments Zabrock cleared the gap between them, his stone hammer formed already in his hand. "_**Mortician's Hammer!**_"

He battered the hammer into Naruto's side, firing him with great force into the ground, the ground tore up even more trying to slow the blond insane movements down.

Naruto screamed in pain as he came to a halt. '_I still haven't recovered from that Tectonic attack, __**Ameliorate**__ can only heal me so quickly!_' He thought of his self-healing magic, it was trying it's hardest to repair the damage from _**Tectonic Impact**_ moments ago.

Zabrock's assault was not yet over, he sped to the blonde's new location, swinging the might hammer over his head before slamming it down on top of the blonde, Naruto only had seconds to respond, he couldn't teleport with _**Ameliorate**_ healing him, yet his natural speed, even injured as he was, was still enough to allow him to dodge the hammer's wrath.

Naruto moved away from the silver haired mage again. _'I need to keep my distance from him while I heal.' _He thought as he locked on to his larger opponent, refusing to let him go out of sight. _'Despite his long ranged attacks, he seems to prefer close range combat.'_

"You're quick, but escape this!" Zabrock roared again, slamming his palms together and interlocking his fingers. "_**Great Divide!**_"

His foot slammed into the ground once again, however this time two walls parallel to each other from either side of Naruto, both a metre thick and rising several metres high, two around three times the size of Naruto. Zabrock then slapped his hands together, and the walls began closing in on the blond. _'Shit!_' Naruto gritted his teeth, looking up to the escape. '_I hope I've healed enough for this!_'

He quickly teleported out just as the walls slammed shut. "As expected!" Zabrock laughed triumphantly his fist engulfed with Seismic Energy once again.

Naruto quickly teleported again to dodge the attack, before reappearing to deliver a powerful punch to Zabrock's face, but to his surprise he hurt himself more than what he had Zabrock apparently, the taller mage seemed unfazed by the attack whilst Naruto clutched his wrist in pain.

'_What was that?_' Naruto wondered whilst looking down at his hand. It felt like he had just punched a brick wall rather than another human.

"Hurts doesn't it?" Zabrock chuckled out, turning to Naruto's location. "My bones are indestructible, you can't harm me."

'_He said that again._' Naruto's eyes narrowed with focus as he replayed the fight in his mind. _'I need to think.' _Naruto concluded, he looked around, piles of rubble and debris had been caused by their battle he quickly teleported away behind one of them, out of Zabrock's line of sight.

"Where did you go?" He heard the taller mage wonder, but he blocked out the mage for the moment. Their fight began replaying through the blonde's mind.

"_Yes, this boy's body. It isn't normal, the bones seemed reinforced. Our blows should have been enough to shatter his body and yet…"_

"_My bones are indestructible!"_

"_My bones are indestructible, you can't harm me"_

'_He constantly mentioned his bones as being indestructible, not his body, even Yirrow commented on it. There must be a reason behind it.'_ Naruto wondered, he began taking more from the fight into calculation, Zabrock's movements, his fluidity, his combat style. _'He's fast, and he packs one hell of a punch, but that is to be expected from an Earth Mage.'_

Naruto's eyes widened as his mind mentally clicked. _'Is it possible?_' He wondered, his conclusion might just be correct. '_But if it is, how do I defeat him? I can barely harm his body, and if he gets close enough to hit me with that Tectonic Impact again, it's all over…_'

He remembered the attack, how he felt his bones vibrate with powerful tremors as soon as he was hit, he could feel his bones begin to crack and fracture in an unready response to the increase of vibrations. _'How can this guy have the strongest weapon and the strongest shield!?'_

"Come out little Fairy!" Zabrock screamed in fury, he had resorted to attacking in every direction with his magic trying to lure or scare Naruto out of hiding. "Can you do nothing except run and hide?! Has your choices in fighting me really boiled down to those two options!?"

'_It's impossible, a weapon will be stronger than a shield, just like another shield will be stronger against that same weapon, it's a chain cycle. No two opposing forces meet an exact balance in power._'

His mind clicked again, he quickly looked over to Zabrock attacking an incorrect spot where he thought Naruto would be hiding. _'It's a long shot, but it could work. It's the only chance I have!_' He thought with a new determination. _'I'll leave myself open to a lot, and if I screw up, I'm done for, but I have to try!'_

"Come out!" Zabrock screamed once again, his voice louder and much more violent. From the corner of his eye he saw spiky blond emerge, followed by the rest of his opponent's body, when Naruto came completely into view, the silver haired mage gave a small, dark chuckle.

"No more running and hiding…" Naruto uttered outwardly as he revealed himself to his larger opponent from behind a pile of rubble caused by Zabrock's continuous attacks.

"So the Fairy finally grew a spine." A cocky smirk grew across Zabrock's face as he eyed Naruto like prey ready to be slaughtered.

Naruto said nothing, instead his reply was a fast rush towards Zabrock, _**Rasen: Gan**_ forming in his hand. _'I only have one shot, if I miss, it's over, he'll know what I'm doing!'_

Zabrock gave off a chuckle before responding by charging towards Naruto as well, _**Tectonic Impact**_ enveloping his fist. "You'll lose a direct battle of strength!" He roared with victory as he swung his fist forward, his height had giving him slightly more range in close combat, his arm span being able to reach Naruto before the blond could attack. He hurled his fist towards the Fairy Tail mage's face. And it appeared that Naruto would let the attack hit, he made no attempt to dodge, instead remaining entirely focused on Zabrock.

And to the silver haired mage's horror the blond disappeared right at the last millisecond before his fist could connect. "_**Rasen: Gan**_!" He heard the blond shout, he saw the blond had reappeared directly to his right and with a quick fluid shifting of his body, turned and drilled his attack into Zabrock's elbow. It caused his arm to bend and push towards his own chest, where the _**Tectonic Impact**_ hit Zabrock himself.

The blond could only watch as he saw's Zabrock's face contort with real agonising pain for the first time in their fight. His entirely body vibrated with powerful tremors, the vibrations seemed even stronger coursing through the Phantom mage's body than when they did his own.

Zabrock was launched away from him once again, landing in a pile of rubble, his body crashing and sending debris all across the guild hall.

The silver haired mage continued letting off terrifying screams of horrible pain, his voice gargling with a tone of agony. He tried moving his body, but every twitch sent a response to his brain telling him he was in terrible pain. _'This is just like THAT time!'_ He thought through the pain, he could only guess what had happened. His bones had cracked and fractured from his own attack, the vibrations damaging him right down to the core of his body. "How is this possible!"

"You were constantly bragging about the strength of your bones, then I saw your magic and what it could do. So I figured it out." Naruto responded calmly, how suddenly the tables had turned. It was only moments before when their positions had been switched. Zabrock looming over the downed, pain filled Naruto like a giant. "Your magic is Earth Magic, and an extremely powerful one at that. To be able to create shock waves and tremors from a focused attack, it provides the ultimate weapon. But then I figured out the second part…"

Zabrock's eyes widened with horror even further at the blonde's revelation.

"That magic has also affected your body, or more precisely; your bones. Instead of marrow like animals, your bones are constructed out of stone. That's why you were able to take so much damage without feeling its affects. That's why when I hit you, your body didn't feel like a normal human's does. It felt like punching a boulder. That gave you what could be the ultimate shield."

Naruto then sighed loudly, listening to Zabrock let out another groan of pain as he tried to stand up. "However, your bones are no longer organic, therefore they didn't respond as well to your own attack. They couldn't adapt to the sudden frequency of vibrations, just like earth during a quake, they had to simply endure it and hope for the best. Your bones cracked and fractured like the Earth's crust in an Earthquake." The blond finished, his brow burrowing even further at Zabrock, whose eyes were wide with all these revelations. "You can't possess the Ultimate Weapon _**AND**_ the Ultimate Shield!"

Zabrock panted heavily, they pain had begun to fade with adrenaline kicking back in. His mind raced through the various factors that brought him to this situation. He had underestimated the blond from Fairy Tail that much was true. _'But perhaps… I overestimated… myself…'_

'_**Ishishin,**__ a very rare magic. I've heard about its power, but I've never known anyone to possess it…_'

Zabrock's eyes widened as the words replayed back through his head.

'_Come, join me and my guild. There, at Phantom Lord, you will have a real home…_'

'_I can't give up!_' Zabrock thought with new determination, slowly his rose back to his feet, the blond darting away and clearing a space between the two of them. '_Master Jose has placed so much faith in me. He has given me a real home, a real family!_' His body still twitched with the effect of his own magic attack, he was fighting for his cave, his treasures but now things had changed. '_Phantom Lord is my home now, it's my treasure!_ _I can't lose here!_'

His head swung backwards as he roared loudly, as if he stood at the top of the world. His voice bellowed through the guild, echoing and rebounding back to him. "Don't underestimate _**Ishishin**_! I can still stand! I can still fight!"

He charged towards Naruto, but he was slow, he could feel it himself. His bones were too weakened to carry him any faster. But he did not falter, he continued running. Naruto only watched him approach, watched him ball his fist ready to punch the blond.

His fist swung, and Naruto caught it with ease. All of a sudden, the blond seemed disinterested in the fight. His eyes were heavy lidded and not focused on Zabrock at all. "I'd say about half the usual capacity." Naruto commented faintly, yet the larger mage could still hear perfectly. Naruto's eyes slowly shifted towards Zabrock, he attempted to free his fist from Naruto's own grip. "Your body is only functioning at half capacity, you're twice as slow, and your strength has been halved. Don't continue this fight, I have no intention on fighting a seriously wounded person."

"You bastard!" Zabrock screamed, with his free hand he readied an open palm. "_**Seismic Crash!**_" He ignored the pain erupting in his arm as his attack charged, he felt the bones in his arm crack even further, Zabrock now knew from this point on until the battle was finished, his own magic would hurt him. His body can't contain the Seismic Tremor Energy anymore.

He thrust his palm towards the blond, silently hoping the attack would hit. Yet the blond disappeared once again, before reappearing with the delivery of a brutal side kick to Zabrock's head from mid-air, knocking the larger mage back.

"I can feel it, even now it's easy to hit your body with normal attacks." The blond uttered out, his head went down to look at the palm of his own hand. "No matter, if you insist of on continuing this fight, I will end it in an instant…"

The familiar blue orb of spiralling pure magic appeared in his hand, yet Zabrock's eyes widened with horror at the next step.

Three smaller orbs began growing around the larger one, not as small as his _**Rasen: Tama**_, but about half the size of the usual _**Gan**_, the three smaller orbs began slowly circling the larger orb, picking up speed as the centre orb grew slightly larger. "You can put that tombstone on hold…" the blond suddenly disappeared once again.

He reappeared directly in front of Zabrock, giving know time to respond. "Because I'm not dying today!" The blonde roared and Zabrock could only stand in horror as this new attack connected with his abdomen. "_**Rasen: Wakusei Kidō!**_"

Zabrock could now feel the extent of the stack, each of the smaller orbs were spiralling in a different direction to the larger one. The blond mage let go of the larger orb and Zabrock continued being pushed backwards by the attack, before eventually being sent into the air. The orbs interacted with each other to form a massive and turbulent cone-shaped vortex, drilling into his stomach with ferocious velocity.

Zabrock hit the ceiling, but the attack did not stop, in seconds the attack burst through the ceiling, Zabrock riding along the top. They went through each individual floor, Zabrock feeling the brunt of every crash into every ceiling on his back.

When the attack stomach Zabrock opened his eyes, now he noticed where he was. Well above the guild's headquarters, floating weightlessly in the air. He looked down at the building below him, walls and ceilings destroyed by the war, even more by his battle with the blond mage. _'To think you still had an attack like this up your sleeve, blond fairy.' _The silver haired mage thought as he felt gravity beginning to kick back in. He felt his stomach, holes had burrowed into his skin, nothing life threatening for him, but he could only imagine the damage if his body was regular.

He looked down to the guild once more, watching as it closed in on him. _'My home…'_ His thoughts ran once again, watching the Earth come closer and closer. '_I'm still conscious, I can still protect it…!_'

Naruto watched the Phantom Lord mage crash into the ground, before his arms shot up to protect his face from the debris exploding out of the impact. The fighting stopped completely for every mage, Phantom and Fairy to do the same.

Even after the debris had settled, the fighting ceased, all eyes were back on the two fighters, Phantom Lord members staring in shock and awe at the blond, seemingly victorious over one of the two best S-Class Mages.

"You're not the same person who wrote that journal, Zabrock." Naruto spoke aloud, he knew the silver haired mage was still conscious after the attack. "You're nothing like the person who wrote something so inspiring and heartfelt. What happened to you?"

Sure enough Zabrock's arm lunged out of the gaping crater that was creating upon his impact with the earth, full of tiredness and pain he pulled himself out and struggled back onto his feet, his eyes half shut, his body begging for rest and time to heal. "My magic…" He seemed to just whisper loudly. "Everything started with the day I received this magic…"

* * *

><p><em><strong>Rasen: Wakusei<strong> **Kidō**_ - Spiralling Planetary Orbit


	13. Home

A small stature, topped with sandy brown hair watched children playing a game in the distance. To say it was a child could have been a mistake. The boy stood more like a statue, lifeless and fixed, his gaze ever fixed on the distance.

This boy had nothing, no home, no parents. And the population of the village he resided in weren't afraid to remind him of that fact. They treated him as they would a street rat, an unsightly plague, a nuisance.

Yet still he watched them longingly, hoping that one day, just one day, they might include him in their good times.

"Hey guys!" A boy ran over to his friends, halting their playing for the moment. "You won't believe it! You know the story our parents told us about a bottomless pit nearby? It's true, I found it!"

"Liar!" His friend responded to his claim. "There's no such thing as a bottomless pit, it has to stop at some point!"

"Hey guys, look." Their third friend spoke, looking away to the group at the small boy staring back at them. "That Zabrock kid is just standing there watching us."

A sick grin grew on the second friend's face, chuckling quietly to his friends. "I guess we have found the lab rat for our experiment. Take us to the hole, and we'll find out if it's bottomless or not..."

* * *

><p>"Thanks for letting me come with you guys." The young Zabrock said cheerfully as he walked through the forestry with the boys he was watching earlier. He had no idea where their destination would be, all that mattered to him was that they asked him to join them.<p>

"Nonsense, we're friends now Zabrock! And trust me, you're going to think this is really cool! It's just up ahead!" One boy turned around with a grin before speeding up, moving ahead, as did his friends.

Zabrock sped up as well, coming to a small clearing, within it was a hole in the Earth, wide off that anybody could easily drop down. "What is it?"

"It's a hole dummy!" One boy replied sarcastically, but cheekily, as friends would speak to one another. "But apparently there is treasure at the bottom of it, we're here to check it out!"

They all approached the pit together, Zabrock carefully leaned over the edge in an attempt to peer down. "I-I've seen enough, there's nothing down there."

"We wanna find out if there's treasure, and you're going to do it Zabrock." The third boy sgrinned evilly, all three of them moving to surround Zabrock.

Out of nowhere, Zabrock felt a hard push against his back, easily knocking him over the edge. Zabrock screamed with fear as he plummeted down into the black abyss of the pit. The boys watched as Zabrock disappeared out of the light, waiting for the thud.

But a thud never came, maybe the hole was so deep they couldn't hear him connect to the ground? Or maybe it really was bottomless? And Zabrock would be falling for the rest of his days...

"Hey Zabrock!" The first boy beckoned down the hole, but he received no reply. "I think he might have died!" He turned around worriedly to his friends, shock spreading over his face.

"So what? He was nobody, he had no one. No one is gonna miss him, all we need to do is walk away and it will be behind us." His friend replied, before following his own advice and beginning to walk away from the hole, his friends followed suit shortly after, none of them looking back at the hole again.

* * *

><p>'<em>Am I... dead?<em>' Zabrock awoke in the darkness, there was nothing he could see, and he could only feel the Earth beneath him. He tried to move, yet blinding pain coursed through his body, despite his young age, he knew what was wrong. Almost every bone had been broken by the fall. '_Nope, I'm still alive...' _he concluded as he felt the surges of pain. _'Should I consider it a miracle that I'm still alive? Or a curse that I now have live through this agony as I starve to death?_

He could do nothing but lay down in the blackness, laying face down he could taste the dirt in his mouth. Despite the pain, he decided to find out which bones had been broken. He started with something small, but what he would use constantly, his right index finger, he shuffled it outwards, pain coursed through him, meaning it was broken.

But it was what his finger landed on the surprised him; it felt thin, almost wooden. 'Is that paper?' he wondered, ignoring the pain enveloping him he pulled whatever it was towards him, sure enough, from what he could feel it was a scroll. Zabrock positioned the paper in front of him and unravelled it, as he did the words began to light up, giving him the dimmest of light sources.

He looked over the words on the paper; it made no sense to him what it was saying. "_**When you become one with the Earth, the Rock, and the Stone, your Spirit will become Unbendable, your Mind will become Unbreakable, your Body will become Indestructible. Ishishin... Heart of Stone...!**_"

His body was enveloped in light, and Zabrock went into the most agonising pain of his life, with the light he could see what was happening, splinters of bone popping out of his skin cracked their way back into his body, dislocated joints popped back into place, broken boned snapping back together. He screamed in utmost agony as his body was brutally healed in seconds.

As the light dissipated he lay down on his back panting, yet he felt nothing, no pain what so ever, slowly he rose back to his feet. Yet he felt so much heavier than before, almost four times his weight previously. '_What's going in on?_' He clenched his fist, the scroll in his grip. '_I feel stronger!'_ He looked upwards with determination in his eyes.

He moved towards the wall of the hole, when he moved to dig his foot into it, a small platform of Earth shot out to support him, gripping his hands into the wall now he lifted himself, when his other foot came in, another platform appeared. Every step was like the Earth pushing him back towards freedom, towards life.

The light of the sun got more intense with each and every stride. When he reached the top and pulled himself out of that hole it was blinding him. He squinted his eyes closed, yet pressed on, heading back towards the village, as he stumbled through it he stopped in his tracks.

There. In front of him were those boys, the very same that pushed him to near death. He glared at them all, yet one caught Zabrock in their eyesight.

"Look, it's Zabrock!" He sounded almost relieved when he pointed his friends to the sandy brown haired child. "We thought you were dead! It's been three days since you fell down that hole!"

Zabrock only stared back wide eyed. The one talking... was the one that pushed him down that hole. He let out a wild scream of fury and charge at the boy, his fist connected to his face with force.

But he never expected what happened to occur. The boy's face caved in on itself from the punch, if that didn't kill him, the force push him into a tree, his back smashing against the truck, the sound of bones crunching against it was disgusting, he looked at the mangled boy with fear, fear at himself, witnesses looked at Zabrock with equal fear.

The other boys ran in horror, screaming for help, for authorities and their parents to come. He knew he couldn't stay. Horrified with himself, Zabrock took off in another direction, running through the streets to his own little home.

He didn't waste time on supplies, he picked up his back pack, filled with pens and an empty book from days where he would sit and write, losing himself in his own imagination, he quickly picked up food that wouldn't go stale after a few days and took off once more into the forest.

Despite his high speed sprinting, Zabrock didn't even feel tired, he felt like he could run for days. So that was what he planned for now, to run far away from this village, to discover what monster he had become.

* * *

><p>Zabrock approached the edge of the forest, breaking through its murky dark and becoming enveloped in the bright light of the sun again. He had stopped at the edge of a small river, trickling through the valley. The grass was a lush green, with a variety of different types of flower in size and colour breaking up the plain green. A small waterfall was just to the left of him, large enough for the water to crash down and leave a small rainbow to form over the drop.<p>

Zabrock panted heavily, he moved over to a rock nestled in the grass by the river. It was large enough to sit on, so he did, crossing his legs to fit more comfortably on it, dropping the backpack on his back to the ground next to him. Zabrock pulled out the scroll he found down in the abyss. He opened it back up again, trying to read exactly what it was he picked up.

_**Ishishin**_, those with a heart of stone may acquire this magic, making their flesh and bone match the solidness of their heart.

_'So that's what this is, it's a magic named __**Ishishin**__...'_Zabrock read the beginning of the scroll. He continued reading through it, his eyes scanning through the contents. He stopped when it began naming a list of techniques for the magic to use.

_'This isn't the place to practise, I need somewhere rocky.'_Zabrock looked around at his current environment, it was too beautiful to ruin with the practise of this magic. He looked upwards towards the sky for some kind of answer.

And the sky had it, it answered his problem with a peak of mountains lying north-west from his current location. _'Perfect._' The sandy haired boy smiled at the mountains. It was just what he needed, rocky, dangerous, private and away from civilisation.

He picked his bag up again, opening it he placed the scroll in it, he looked around solemnly at the contents of the bag. There was no food or extra clothing, just his tools for writing, countless pens and an almost infinite number of sheets of paper, enough to last him a lifetime. The pen and paper were his only companions, and that was all he really wanted. When he first placed his trust in those boys, they betrayed him in a heartbeat, it was a mistake he wouldn't make again.

He threw the bag back on his back. Jumping off the stone, he ran towards the river. He jumped, without warning he rocketed over the water. Zabrock turned back in shock, staring at the river, it must have been a good three metres in length, he had jumped to try and at least clear some of the water, not all of it. _'What has this magic done to me?'_ Zabrock lifted his hand, fixated on it. His fist clenched as he smirked. _'I like it...'_

He looked back up towards the direction of the village, this would be the last time he looked back. He quickly turned around again, setting off towards the mountains, where he would begin again. Becoming one with stone.

* * *

><p>Zabrock placed his pen down, just finishing the newest entry into his journal, the only other outlet source for his mind besides his training with his magic.<p>

His head snapped towards the exit. _'Someone's coming..._' He thought hesitantly, he had lived in this mountain for far too long, he could feel every vibration caused along the mountain, especially when it was closer to his lair.

Quickly he ran through the tunnels of his cave, knowing every shortcut possible to get to the exit as fast as possible, he darted into the bright light of the sun, and looked around for the cause of the new obscure vibrations.

"Where the hell is that bastard!?" He heard a boy shout, the boy had long, spiky black hair, pulled back into a mullet style, reaching down to his shoulder blades. He wore white baggy pants leading into metal boots and was shirtless, the boy's facial features were angry, only increased by his red, lizard-slitted pupil eyes. On his face were pieces of metal piercing the skin, one on each side of his nose and two replacing his eyebrows, as well as two in each ear, as well as a prominent scar on his right forearm. "Making me go through all this effort just to find him!"

"Who are you?" Zabrock spoke angrily, this boy had entered his home, disturbed him for what appeared to be no particular reason in his eyes.

The boy turned towards him and snarled in return. "Depends, who's asking?"

"My name is Zabrock Granfall, and this is my mountain. Who are you and what do you want?" Zabrock returned angrily to the boy.

"So you're the God of the Drifting Mountains?" The boy scoffed in disbelief. "Me and my father heard rumours about a God taking up residence on this mountain two years ago, to think it was nothing but a kid."

'_Two years!...'_ Zabrock's eyes widened with realisation at what the boy had just said. He had been on this mountain, all alone for the past two years, slowly he looked down at his hand. _'I'm thirteen now...' _He smiled briefly, before the anger resurfaced, looking towards the boy once again. "I asked you what you're name was?"

"I don't give my name to weak trash!" The boy laughed hysterically in return, taking in a deep breath. "_**Tetsuryū no Hōkō!**_" As he roared, sharp metal shards were released in a violent vortex, blasting its way towards Zabrock.

However Zabrock simply ran towards the attack. "_**Stone Skin!**_" His body quickly became encased in stone as he ran into the attack, the shards of metal bouncing off his body, he continued running towards the black haired boy, a hammer made of rock began forming in his hand. "Mortician's Hammer!"

The boy watched the attack come towards him, "_**Tetsuryū no Uroko!**_" His own body became enveloped in spiky scales made of iron, swinging his arms to cover his head, the boy took the attack, digging his now spiky feet into the ground to stop him from move, then with one push knocked the hammer and Zabrock away from him.

"I guess you're stronger than I thought." The boy grinned at Zabrock. "My name is Gajeel Redfox. And as much as I would like to finish this fight and beat the crap out of you, I am busy looking for someone." The boy introduced himself before turning around. "I've finally found someone strong, so make sure you stay that way, because I'm sure we will meet again."

Zabrock watched the boy leaving, contemplating what had just happened._ 'That boy, Gajeel. He was rude, aggressive and angry, and yet, he was nothing like those boys from my old home, I felt no hate or anger towards me…'_

* * *

><p>"That bastard Makarov!" Jose Porla grumbled as he walked along the path, he had just been embarrassed, nay humiliated by the old man at the annual Guild Master's Meeting.<p>

Fairy Tail had grown too strong in his eyes, there was once a time where Phantom Lord dominated Fiore, yet Fairy Tail kept acquiring new members with talent and reputation; Gildarts Clive, Laxus Dreyar, Mistgun, Erza Scarlet, Mirajane Strauss, Natsu Dragneel, all of them were names he despised to hear.

More of the powerful mages that came to Fiore went straight to Fairy Tail, not even giving Phantom Lord a second glance. He needed to boost his own talent in the guild, but where could he find such a person.

He looked up, and to his surprise he saw the mountain shift, not by much, but by a noticeable amount to someone like him. '_I wonder what's up there?_' He thought to himself, with lightning quick speed and strength afforded to those able to reach the level of the 10 Wizard Saints he scaled up the mountain towards the top, reaching it in a matter of minutes.

But when he reached the top there was no peak at the top of the mountain, instead, a giant hole in the top. '_What an obscure place for a cirque?'_ Jose wondered as he stared down at the hole.

He then noticed a boy at the edge of the cirque, his arms raised towards it. Jose watched in utter amazement as the boy swung his arms upwards, and as if tied to his fingers, the cirque exploded upwards, shooting up and reforming the mountain peak, the boy then shot his arms back down, and the mountain peak broken down and reflattened into the cirque.

'_What incredible control over the Earth!_' Jose thought to himself excitedly, before he felt the ground rumble beneath him, looking around, he could see the mountains shift ever so slightly all of a sudden. '_This boy, his magic affects the Earth almost right down to the Tectonic Plates, his magic is causing these mountains to move ever so slightly faster than the Convection Currents moving the rest of the tectonic plate, these are the Drifting Mountains I've heard rumours about..._' Jose looked down to the boy with a wide smile. '_**Ishishin**__... to think I found someone possessing that magic..._'

"You there, boy!" Jose called out to him, moving downwards to meet him, the boy turned around and stared at the man sceptically. "What is your name?"

"Zabrock Granfall. Who are you?" The boy replied with slight hesitation, yet a scowl remained on his face as he stared back at the man.

"My name is Jose Porla, I am the current Guild Master of Phantom Lord and one of the Ten Wizard Saints." Jose replied with a wide smile, something Zabrock made no attempt to return.

"Phantom Lord, Ten Wizard Saints... Never heard of them." Zabrock turned back around, raising his arms towards the cirque once again.

"Phantom Lord is a mages guild, for people like yourself with magic, Phantom Lord is filled with only the most strongest and most loyal of mages, and I believe after watching you now, you would make a fine addition to my guild." Jose offered without wasting any more time.

The boy lowered his arms, turning back around to face him. "You want me to join your guild?" He waited for Jose to nod in return before continuing. "I refuse." He said bluntly, turning back around away from the man.

Zabrock's quick turn caused him to miss the annoyance written on Jose's face. "I'm not ready." Zabrock continued before Jose had a chance to say or do anything. "I need to get better at my magic, get better at controlling it and its power."

Jose's eyes light up with hope at the boys words. "How long will you need?"

"Two years." Zabrock responded quickly, lifting the mountain peak back up to its original state, before turning to face the man once again. "Give me two more years then come back, I'll join your guild then..."

* * *

><p>"<em><strong>Reign of the Gargoyles!<strong>_" Zabrock called in his cave, in a split second tens of Gargoyles rose from the Earth, yet they were incomplete, some of them still missing body parts or were heavily cracked.

The teen moved towards one of them, stroking its face gently. "Maybe one day you'll talk back to me." He spoke almost longingly to the statute. 6 years, 6 years had he stayed in this cave on this mountain, only ever having two sources of contact with others; Gajeel and Jose from Phantom Lord. All his other forms of contact went into his magic, his journal, and his Gargoyles.

'_Jose's not coming back...'_ He thought with spite, almost anger at the man as he turned and walked away from his stone statues, many times had he thought about Jose's offer. Should he have taken it right there and then? What would be so different about this new home he offered? How would Zabrock feel being surrounded by people once again?

He moved to sit down in front of his journal and picked the pen up, but found himself staring blankly at the page, his eyes moved to the flickering torch light, and stared at the wisping flames. And then he realised, for the first time, he was procrastinating, he couldn't figure out what he wanted to write.

Dropping the pen once more the boy, who had grown dramatically walked out of the cave towards the exit, his eyes had become immaculate, being able to react to changing levels of light instantly and giving almost perfect vision in the dark thanks to his years in his cave.

A gust of wind hit him slowly, he allowed the breeze to drift through his hair as he stared out over the mountain range and fields of green beyond.

'_What have I done with my life?'_ He asked himself as the warm rays of the sun struck on his back. _'I have lived a life of solitude, because I never want to let anyone in again after what happened at that hole so many years ago. But at the same time I long for companionship...'_

He smiled almost mockingly at himself, this would have been a moment where he remembered his friends, his family, his home. But he had no memories of these things, only darkened images of his cave and the gargoyle statues lurking inside sprung to his mind. _'A place I can always return to... A place with people who need me, who respect me, who love me...'_

* * *

><p>Zabrock sighed heavily, closing his eyes as he closed the journal on the last page, every page was now filled from the day he came to this mountain. Nostalgia and memories filled him as he gently stroked the book.<p>

'_I've mastered __**Ishishin**__ to the highest extent I can reach here, but in order to further improve I need to leave, to fight, to try my hand against different combatants...'_ He thought as he turned away from the book, leaving it on the small pedestal.

He stopped at the entrance, lifting up his back pack and tossing it onto his shirtless back, he had been without a shirt for years, luckily his pants were so big and baggy they were able to stay throughout the years. He walked through the cave solemnly and slowly, knowing where his destination was.

He walked into a large circular room, inside was filled with Gargoyle statues, and the progression of detail through time, each line better than the one before. He lifted his arm and at the back of the lines of Gargoyles a mighty throne on step rose from the ground.

Putting his hands together he breathed quietly, "_**Reign of the Gargoyles: Tsar!" **_His largest gargoyle appeared, fitted with a cape, sceptre and crown to sit on the throne, overlooking the other statues beneath it.

He looked up, seeing a medallion stuck in the crown of the Tsar Gargoyle, he had never seen it before. Had it been stuck in the ground all this time? He smiled upwards at the medallion and smiled. "A jewel befitting a king..." He said solemnly, looking at the Tsar Gargoyle completely. "Look after this place, look after my treasures..." He uttered before turning to leave, walking through the cave towards the exit in the light.

"Two years to the day." He heard someone say, when he turned he saw Jose standing there a smile on his face. "Are you ready to keep your side of the deal?"

"I'm ready to join Phantom Lord now." Zabrock replied to the man, looking towards him with an almost black expression.

"Finally I'll have some competition there then!" He turned at the other voice, sitting on the entrance cave's roof was Gajeel, older with metal cylindrical metal piercing through his face. "What's up, Zabby?"

"Gajeel? You're a member of Phantom Lord now?" Zabrock answered asurprised at the other boy's appearance.

"Yeah! It's the best guild in all of Fiore! I joined a few years ago and Master Jose and I were talking six months ago about new members to boost our strength and ranks, I told him about you and he said he knew you, and you would be joining in a few months. I've been excited, I want to finish that fight we had all those years ago!"

"How about we finish it off when we get back to Phantom Lord." Zabrock smirked cockily at the black haired boy. "I'll make you a fine tombstone..."

* * *

><p>"Here we are, Zabrock, Phantom Lord." Jose smiled up at the building, Zabrock himself looked up in wonder. He had never seen a building so big in his life. The building was built like a castle, with stone walls and iron gates shaped like lances linked together framing the front door, emerald green roof tiles completing the building at the very top. The name of the guild on a black sign above the door in purple writings. Two triangle shaped banners with what Zabrock could only assume was the guild's insignia hung on the front door.<p>

"We should enter and introduce Zabrock." Gajeel grinned like a fox, as if it was some cruel joke. Zabrock's eyes moved over to the black haired boy, he didn't like his tone of voice. Secretly he began charging his magic, ready to fight back or escape. He wouldn't be hurt by others again.

Jose nodded, moving towards the front door made of steel, the door opened from the bottom, disappearing into the wall. He gestured Gajeel and Zabrock to follow in after him.

Zabrock nervously walked into the guild, trying his best to cover up that nervousness. He was instantly met with a multitude of various stares, ones of scorn, interest, apathy, confusion. All the eyes of the guild members were on him, and it was making him uncomfortable.

"Now Zabrock, from what I have seen you are already a worthy member of Phantom Lord, but I do need to properly test your mettle. This I will do by having you fight a current member of Phantom Lord of my choosing." Jose smiled deviously at Zabrock, who looked back in surprise. A fight? He had never been in a real fight before. How would he handle it?

"Sol! Come here and fight this boy!" Jose called out, his voice bellowing through the guild, bouncing and echoing off the walls.

"Non-non, non-non non non. A rhythm of two, two, one one. I welcome you to the guild, but I must defeat you. You seem to be a weak little boy, oui?" A lanky tall man snaked his way out of the ground, his neck bent unusually to the left. His green hair was pointed upwards, complimented with a thin pointy green moustache. Over his left eye he wore a monocle. He wore a brown thorny suit with what seemed to be a small cape just about reaching his elbows.

Zabrock's eyes hardened. "Weak?" His insulted tone of voice said it all. His fists clenched together, the sound of bones cracking filled the guild, silencing the members, who all turned eagerly to watch the fight.

"Non-non-non, non-non, non-non. A rhythm of three, two, two. The pattern of defeat for you." The man, Sol as Jose had called out, slithered back into the Earth. Zabrock's eyes darted around, looking and waiting for any incentive as where the man would sprout up from.

"_**Roche Concerto!**_" Suddenly the green haired man shot up from the ground, the rubble created was fired at Zabrock in a flurry of attacks, bombarding against the sandy haired boy.

Yet the rocks just bounced of his skin, barely even leaving scratches on the surface of his body. The rocks collided with his back, yet Zabrock just looked over his shoulder as if nothing had happened, his eyebrow rose as he locked eyes with the flustered Sol.

"Non-non-non, what's this? _**Roche Concerto**_ can shatter bones! Why has nothing happened?" Sol shouted in frustration, looking as Zabrock turned around to face him head on.

"Because my bones are impossible to break." He answered in an almost bored expression, he found all this rather unnecessary, yet he missed the dark smile present of Jose's face, as if he knew what was going to happen.

Sol growled in annoyance and rage, slipping back into the earth again. Zabrock could now feel his movements underground. _'He's gotten sloppy with anger, I can feel him move through vibrations in the Earth.'_ Zabrock silently felt where Sol was moving, two metres 75 centimetres north is where he stopped, he was a few metres behind Zabrock and would be facing his back. _'Planning another surprise attack from behind. Not very confident with fighting face front are you?'_ Zabrock smirked, all he had to do was wait.

"_**Platre Sonat**_-!" Sol begin charging his strongest attack, rising from the Earth as he did so, but he was cut off by the teenager, who had moved at such an impressive speed, his hand now clasped around Sol's thin neck. _'How? How did he know my location?_'

"You're finished." Zabrock's eyes widened, with his single hand he pulled Sol right out the Earth, the Phantom Lord members looked on in shock, many of them never seeing Sol's feet before. Yet there he was, being dragged out the ground with brute force, even with his magic working to try and keep him in. The Earth was tugged upwards slightly, before finally giving way, Sol was now completely out of the ground.

Zabrock through him higher, tossing the thin, light man into the air. Grabbing him again on his comedown by the waist and in one fluid movement delivered a tremendous power bomb to the green haired man. Smashing his back into the ground below, the earth reducing to rubble underneath the impact, creating a crater in the middle of the guild.

The Phantom members looked upon the carnage in awe, the strength that this young man had displayed, destroying a massive portion of the guild's floor in one attack, deflecting the attacks of one of the Element 4 as if it were nothing. They looked at the sandy haired teen in wonder of what he would do next.

Sol lay in the middle of the crater, his body twitching from pain caused by the impact, the teenager stood above him confidently. "You are pathetic." He muttered down to the green haired man. "One hit and your down. No matter, as a Grave Digger I do not discriminate against customers. Time to plant you tombstone." Zabrock's eyes widened again, he slowly lifted his hands over his head, holding the right hand just under the left.

"_**Mortician's Hammer.**_" A colossal stone hammer formed in Zabrock's hands, several times larger than himself, the shape of the mallet was like a skull, with a large spike of stone pierced straight through it.

He swiftly brought the hammer down on the green haired man, the impact of the hammer meeting the ground shook the earth in the guild, tables rumbled and cups rattled and shifted along them.

'_I missed?'_ Zabrock thought with interest. _'He must have slipped into the earth at the very last minute. No matter.' _He suddenly let out a loud roar, without warning to the guild members the hammer sunk further into the ground, chasing Sol into the earth. Suddenly a collision was heard, muffled as if covered by something. It was followed by a circular ripple expanding across the floor of the guild, like a pebble causing a ripple in pond water. The very foundations of the guild's build shook violently for a second, members looking around in fear in case the building collapsed.

The sound of laughing accompanied by clapping hands broke any fear in the Phantom members. All eyes shifted to the source of the applause; Jose. He walked towards Zabrock with an extremely pleased expression, Zabrock dispelling the hammer before Jose spoke, turning his attention towards the guild master. "Excellent!" Even his voice displayed a pleased tone from Zabrock's performance. "I expected nothing else or less! I saw your magic before, against you Sol is pitiful. You must take his place in the Element 4!"

"But Sol is still alive." Zabrock's face moving over to the hole in the ground, looking briefly in, he saw the top of the green haired man, lying unconscious in the ground. His body twitched violently, along with expelling groans and moans of pain. "I didn't kill him."

"No matter, the Element 4 must consist of the 4 best Earth, Fire, Air and Water mages that Phantom Lord has to offer, Take Sol's place, Zabrock, become the representation of Stone and Earth in Phantom Lord!" Jose called out, raising his arms wide for emphasis, the eyes of the guild members turned towards Zabrock, awaiting his answer in anticipation.

"I guess I have no choice." Zabrock mumbled loudly, giving a quick smile towards Jose, who smiled even wider in return.

"Then come and collect your member stamp and become a certified member of Phantom Lord." Jose replied, bringing out a stamp. Zabrock moved forwards, pointing towards his left eye, Jose nodded, pressing the stamp over Zabrock's eye. When he pulled it away, the insignia had shaped itself to go over his eye perfectly, ending just at the bottom of his nose and reaching just above his eyebrow.

Jose's hands rose and were placed on both Zabrock's shoulder, Jose's face turned serious, locking eyes with the surprised Zabrock. "With this, you have a place to come back to. With this you become a member of Phantom Lord, use your strength to protect this guild, no matter what threat comes against it."

* * *

><p>"You and I are a lot alike, Zabrock." Naruto commented sadly, staring at the taller boy across the battle field from him. "I too am an orphan, I've had to work for everything I have become today, sure I got lucky a few times, but I have taken the bad with the good. And I have found a place, with happiness and love, with friends, a place I belong. We have both experienced loneliness and orphanhood and pain, yet we have both overcame it and become strong. But there is still a weakness. Not a visible one, but a weakness in our hearts. It's something that can only be mended and strengthened by others."<p>

Zabrock returned Naruto's little speech with a smile, despite the pain resonating through his body, he would not submit, he would not surrender. "You know, Naruto. Under different circumstance, you and I could have been friends." He is voice was softer, the softest Naruto had heard it, Zabrock extended his arm towards Naruto, the fist clenched. "But it's time to end this. It's time to crush the fairies." The air cracked around Zabrock's fist, he pulled his arm back, tensing his muscles in preparation for the attack.

"You shouldn't discard the option of you and I being friends so quickly and easily." Naruto responded, slipping into a more comfortable stance for him to explode off. He began charging _**Rasen: Gan**_in the palm of his hand.

Zabrock shook his head slowly, his _**Tectonic Impact**_building further at his fist. "No. I cannot fail Master Jose." Zabrock's face suddenly hardened, gritting in fury, he exploded forwards, his massive frame charging towards the smaller Naruto's, his fist cocked back and ready to punch forwards. He let out a massive war cry. "I CAN NOT FAIL PHANTOM!"

Naruto took off as well, his _**Rasen: Gan **_charged and ready for impact. "AND I WILL PROTECT FAIRY TAIL! I WON'T BACK DOWN TO ANYBODY, ZABROCK!" Naruto roared in return, preparing himself for the clash to come.

Both combatants closed the gap simultaneously, pushing their respective attacks together. A pure shock wave of energy blew off around the impact of the attack, white light enveloped the entire area they had been fighting in, both fighters still continued to push they attacks forward into the other. The ground began rumbling from the pure power emitted from the colliding attacks.

_**"TECTONIC IMPACT!"**_

"RASEN: GAN!"


	14. True Home

Naruto's eyes snapped open, he could hear his own faint breathing. He stared up at the ceiling... _'Wait, ceiling?'_ He wondered, he remembered watching his magic destroy the ceiling covering the guild hall battlefield at Phantom Lord. Yet despite broken and holey, the ceiling he was looking at wasn't caused by him.

He took a proper look around, and now he noticed he was in a hospital wing, one that had obviously been wrecked a couple of days ago but had been done up to the best of its ability to house causalities. He himself was laying in a bed, bandages covering his body from head to toe.

And next to him, head resting on her arms, was Lucy, despite her eyes being closed, he could see the tiredness surrounding them. He gently moved his arm to her shoulder, nudging it slightly, slowly her eyes fluttered open, still drowsy with restlessness. She caught a glimpse of the blonde smiling back at her, instantly her face lit up with joy, a tear fell from her eye as she jumped on him, her arms wrapping around his neck.

"Naruto! I'm so glad your okay! When they brought you back you looked terrible and broken! You wouldn't wake up!" She blabbered out quickly.

"Lucy... you're hurting me..." He groaned out, trying to mask the surprisingly agonising pain caused by something as simple as a hug.

"I'm sorry!" She jumped off him with worry, sitting back in her chair next to his bed, her face covered in a red blush.

"So what happened?" Naruto asked curiously, he remembered charging at Zabrock but nothing else afterwards.

"After you and Zabrock collided the Master arrived, he used this magic to end the fighting in a second, it was incredible. All of Jose's shades disappeared and the mages of Phantom Lord were just knocked out. But you were already down when all this happened, and you've been unconscious for three days now." She explained briefly.

"And what happened to him? Zabrock?" Naruto wondered at the mention of the Phantom Lord's Giant's name.

"He disappeared, no one knows where he went. He wasn't there after Makarov's magic finished. All the Phantom Lord mages were rounded up, he guild was disbanded and Jose was put in prison for breaking the Conflict Ban Treaty created by the council." Lucy responded, seeing Naruto's face change to one of deep thought as she spoke.

'_That can't be good..._' Naruto thought instantly after hearing Zabrock's whereabouts were unknown. "Lucy, can you help me downstairs? I want to get out of this bed." He smiled at her, she smiled back instantly with a quick nod of her head. Placing her hand in his as he shift to the edge of the bed.

As he stood slowly, he crumbled slightly, yet Lucy managed to catch him in a hug. And Naruto let the instance take over him, her body was warm, and the embrace was comforting. But he couldn't stay like his forever, even if he wanted to. He returned back to a proper standing form, Lucy's arm his waist and his round hers. "Let's go." He smiled at the girl, whose big brown eyes met his ocean blue with a smile and faint red tint on her face.

* * *

><p>Naruto walked into the basement of Fairy Tail's guild with Lucy, all other members were present, talking and laughing and singing happily over their victory.<p>

However when Naruto entered everything went silent, all members gazing at him with awe. Cheering and applause rang out for him, members of Fairy Tail welcoming him into the party.

"You were amazing Naruto!"

"You're so strong! Perhaps even S-Class capable already!"

"Definitely one of our best!"

Naruto listened to what the guild was saying about him, it left him feeling deeply embarrassed. "This isn't necessary." He chuckled out.

"But it is." He heard Makarov speak from the bar's table, his eyes closed as he sipped on a drink. "We all knew about Gajeel being on of Phantom's Guild Aces, Zabrock being the other. What we didn't know was who he was, Jose bragged about him during the Annual Guild Master Get-Together, but he never mentioned his appearance or what he looked like. Then you, a total newbie to Fairy Tail took him on without hesitation and defeated one of Phantom Lord's two most powerful mages for Fairy Tail, it is a great feat, one worthy of recognition. We owe you a great debt Naruto."

Naruto blushed further, scratching the back of his head sheepishly as he gave off a wide grin. "It was nothing really."

Suddenly the ground began rumbling with tremendous force, in the centre of the room, pieces of rock fired up into the air, everyone looked in horror as Zabrock emerged out as well, battered and bruised from everything that had transpired. "Don't talk like this is over, Naruto!" He screamed to the blond directly.

He slammed his palms together, intertwining his fingers. A powerful shockwave blew everyone away from him, and repeated shockwaves after kept them away.

A terrible cracking sound was heard coming from Zabrock, everyone watched with horror and disgust as Zabrock's left foot cracked and dislodged out of place, yet he remained standing, screaming with fury. Splinters of stone shot out of his skin, blood dribbled down from his mouth, yet still he did not relent to the pain he was in.

'_His bones have completely broken or shattered! Whatever magic he's using, it's going to kill him as well!'_ Naruto thought as he tried to get closer to Zabrock, despite his own injuries. Yet a shockwave knocked him back into the wall and he crumbled down onto the floor.

"FAIRY TAIL HAS TAKEN EVERYTHING FROM ME! MY GUILD'S REPUTATION! THEIR STRENGTH! AND NOW THE GUILD ITSELF!" Zabrock screamed at the guild more shockwaves began to appear faster with more powerful force. "THAT WAS _MY_ HOME, _MY_ FAMILY! AND NOW I'VE LOST EVERYTHING AGAIN!"

His shoulder then dislocated painfully, even more splinters of his stone bones pierced through his skin, blood now leaked from his eyes and mouth as well. "NOW FAIRY TAIL WILL FEEL THE SAME THING! THIS SPELL WILL ERADICATE FAIRY TAIL FROM THE WORLD! NOT ONE SPEC OF EVIDENCE WILL REMAIN!" He screamed with full force, the shockwaves grew even further in proportion, beginning to crack and destroy the walls surrounding him.

"Don't do this, Zabrock!" Naruto screamed in return at the larger mage, his body was still weak from the previous fight, he could do nothing but sit and let each shockwave keeping him from returning to his feet.

"_**TECTONIC OBLITERATION!**_" Zabrock screamed, casting the spell. But nothing happened from there as Makarov's enlarged fist connected with the boy, knocking him clear into unconsciousness. Zabrock laid motionless on the ground, his body destroyed through his own intentions.

With the shockwaves ceasing Naruto was allowed to returned to his feet. He saw Zabrock on the ground and instantly felt pity for him. _'He just wants a place to call home..._' He thought sadly as he moved towards Zabrock, despite his own injuries and Zabrock's monstrous weight, Naruto lifted him up from the ground, taking him and walking back towards the stairs to the infirmary. "I'll help him..."

* * *

><p>Zabrock awoke laying on a comfortable bed, he looked down at himself, he was dressed in bandages. He tried to move but felt no energy left in his body. "Don't move, you're badly hurt." He heard a voice next to him.<p>

At the said of his bed was Naruto, equally dressed in bandages from head to toe. He watched the former Phantom Lord mage carefully, like a Prison Guard watching an inmate. "We're alone?..." The sandy brown haired mage spoke as he looked around, no one else was watching him.

"I wanted to talk with you privately." Naruto responded, still watching him carefully, his eyes locked onto him to see any movements he might make.

"I have nothing to say..." Zabrock responded, looking back up at the ceiling. "I used _**Tectonic Obliteration**_, I should be dead..." Zabrock spoke solemnly, staring up at the broken ceiling above him. _'Or worse, considering that I'm still alive, I won't be able to move again, my bones were completely destroyed, that is the price for __**Tectonic Obliteration...**__'_

"Master Makarov stopped you before you could finish it... I suppose he has saved your life twice now..." Naruto responded, Zabrock's eyes widened with shock at what the blonde said. "Fairy Tail's Medicinal Adviser, Porlyusica, she refused to heal anyone in Fairy Tail, saying they weren't that bad, but Master Makarov begged her to save you. It was amazing... despite the fact she had never seen a body like yours, she mended all your bones to near perfect condition. You'll be able to walk our of here once I've finished talking to you, but you won't be able to train or do strenuous activity for a while."

Zabrock only stared with widened eyes at the blond. _'Why... why did he save me, after all I did to his guild?'_ He wondered, before closing his eyes and letting out a heavy sigh. "So what do you want to talk about?"

"I suppose I should start with this: Phantom Lord has been disbanded... You're a free mage once again." Naruto spoke bluntly, anticipating anger at what he said, yet Zabrock just laid there silent, unaffected at the news.

"I know." He responded just as bluntly. "I lost against you in that fight, had things have been different, Master Jose would have kicked me out the guild anyway."

Naruto stared back at the boy on the bed, and sighed heavily. "You and I are a lot alike, more than you think..." Naruto began, closing his eyes to visualise his deepest memories. "I've lost everything dear to me once, I've never known who my parents are, or even if their still alive. I've never really knew my place. I've felt the same loneliness and pain you have..

But then I came to Fairy Tail, and I met someone who saved me. They saved me from that loneliness and pain. I thought I was happy living alone, travelling around and never having a place to call home. But I forgot the power of others and togetherness, the incredible power of feelings to protect what is dear to you...

Fairy Tail is my life now. So if you _ever_ try to harm it again... **I'll kill you without hesitation**." The blonde's eyes widened, glaring menacingly at Zabrock.

Zabrock's own eyes widened at the blonde's state, he could feel the pure seriousness behind Naruto's words. He meant exactly what he said to the letter, however Zabrock then let off a light chuckle, shaking his head slightly. "You really like that girl, don't you? Our target, Lucy Heartfilia?"

Naruto's eyes widened further, not with shock, but sheer embarrassment at the statement, a red blush plastered across his face as he looked away. "The way you jumped to her defence without thought or concern for yourself, if she has done all that for you, it's not hard to see why you like her." Zabrock continued, a small smile growing on his face.

Zabrock then looked back up to the ceiling, heard his own heavy breathing clearly as the room went silent. "When I was in Phantom Lord, I was happy, but I still felt that loneliness, I still felt that pain of not knowing my true place. Phantom Lord was my home, but it wasn't my true home. I still haven't found my true home... But now, I don't know what to do..." He could feel the sting of tears trying to surface, but tried to contain them, not since that day in the hole had he ever cried.

"You can start by repaying the life debt you owe me." Naruto responded to Zabrock's statement, Zabrock looking to the blond with confusion. "Makarov saved your life twice, and I saved it as well, that's three life debts you owe Fairy Tail."

"How did you save me?" Zabrock wondered, still confused with what the blond was saying.

"When Master Makarov knocked you out, some of the members of Fairy Tail wanted to hurt you. To repay the favour against you for what you did to them, to Levy, Jet and Droy. I stopped them, that's why I'm sitting here. I'm not here for Fairy Tail's protection, I'm here for _YOURS_."

"Why?" Zabrock asked the blonde in shock. "Why are you doing this for me? Why didn't you just let them do it?"

"Because you said you could have been friends, and we still can be. Besides, it's not my style to let someone be hurt if I can do something about it!" Naruto gave a large toothy grin to Zabrock.

Zabrock stared back at the blond with a variety of emotions, this guy, his enemy just days before saved his life, and felt no ill will against him for what he had done.

"_Come join Fairy Tail._" Zabrock was snapped out of his thoughts by the blondes words, the blond was looking at him with full seriousness once again. "Make Fairy Tail your new home."

Zabrock smiled at the thought. "I refuse..." He replied gratefully even in declining the offer. "I can't join Fairy Tail, not after what I have done. But thank you, this could have been the end for me, but you helped me." Zabrock continued, sitting up in the bed. "I do owe you a debt, and one day I will repay it. But for now, I need to forge my own path, find my own family, and find my true home." He said as he began to stand up, Naruto quickly jumped to help him, yet Zabrock stopped him. "No, I need to walk out of here alone, without aid."

"I don't think members of Fairy Tail will let you pass so easily." Naruto commented, stepping away from Zabrock, who was intent on standing on his own.

Zabrock looked at the blonde, sending him a sincere smile. "I'm prepared for it." He said, offering his hand out to Naruto.

Naruto looked at the hand, then back to Zabrock. With a large smile he gripped it with his own, giving one short handshake. "Good luck then."

* * *

><p>Zabrock walked down onto Fairy Tail's guild hall, the members had moved from the basement back up here after his stunt downstairs, the members stopped what they were doing to glare at him hatefully with spite. Zabrock watched each and every one of them, catching the glares directed to him. He kept his head high though, not crumbling under the weight of their hate.<p>

However, his body was weak still, he stumbled and swayed into a member of Fairy Tail, who promptly pushed him away with force. "Monster!" The force knocked Zabrock into another member, who pushed him away again.

Zabrock recomposed himself, this guild hall became the longest in his life, each step felt like a mile being walked.

At the doors were those three, the girl with blue hair and her dim wit wannabe suitors, he remembered when they first met. How she pleaded him not to do what they did, yet he paid no heed to her cries.

He stopped in front of them, the two boys jumped back a bit, yet the girl stood frozen as he directed his stare to her. "I'm sorry for my actions... for what I did to you..." He spoke directly to the girl, who looked up surprised that he even bothered to apologise. "I'm not asking you to forgive me. But I will redeem myself one day, I will make it so I don't look so villainous in your eyes."

The girl looked back up with him with shock and surprise, yet despite this a small smile appeared on her face. "I'm really scared of you, yet despite that, I can see the truth, the guilt and the shame in your eyes."

Before either could say anymore her friend with the hat booted him in the face, the force knocked him out of the guild doors and onto the dirty ground outside. Zabrock winced and grunted as he hit the deck.

"Don't ever speak to Levy! And don't ever show your face around here again!" The guy ordered angrily, before turning around and storming back inside.

Zabrock stumbled up back to his feet, looking back at Fairy Tail one last time, Naruto had weaved through the crowd and stood at the front with the girl, Levy. Zabrock looked at the two of them for the briefest of moments, flashing one small smile, before turning away. Carrying on down the path, towards what he was uncertain, but at the end he knew would be his new home...

* * *

><p>"Impressive..." Laxus commented, before crushing the viewing Lacrima in his hand, Bixlow had monitored the entire fight with one of his soul-possessed dolls, then transferred the soul to the inanimate viewing Lacrima to project it's memories of the fight. "He really does use pure magic in it's rawest of forms, plus his teleportation magic was impressive, even his Spirit Summoning, a form of magic usually so weak and useless showed promise."<p>

"And he beat that Zabrock Granfall, who even though he belonged to such a trashy guild like Phantom Lord, I myself had an urge to fight him." Laxus continued, sprinkling the shattered remains of the Lacrima onto the floor as he spoke.

"What do you what to do Laxus? Your will is our duty." Fried spoke calmly, the one who usually remained the most quiet during their gatherings.

"If I could ensure that Naruto stays on our side, and with that _**Rasen**_, the Raijinshuu would be unstoppable." Laxus let off a small grin at the outcome of the war, the display of Naruto's abilities.

"So is it him Laxus? Is he the one?" Evergreen asked hopefully, she hated that the Raijinshuu was incomplete, she hated seeing her leader upset because he couldn't find that final member.

Laxus' grin widened dramtacially, finally things were beginning to come to fruition. "The South is finally protected..."

* * *

><p>Naruto lounged around on his couch in his apartment, his body had recovered well over the past few days, to the point where he could continue training once again.<p>

Yet at the moment his thoughts were on Zabrock, he couldn't what he had said to Levy on the day he left, but he could see the hope for redemption in the large mage's eyes, the guilt and shame of his previous actions.

'_We'll probably run into each other again Zabrock, I just hope you don't fall into the wrong crowd again...' _He thought solemnly, Zabrock seemed like the type of person who could be easily influenced by others if they were to probe into his hopes and dreams.

The door knocked. Snapping Naruto from his train of thoughts. '_It must be Lucy..._' The blonde thought, he had invited the girl over to watch a movie, plus he hadn't seen her for a few days whilst he recovered and if he was honest with himself, he hated that fact, he missed her so much.

He hurried to the door, hearing it being knocked on again. As soon as he reached it he opened the door wide to greet the person behind it.

However, he found himself looking upwards to meet the person in the eye as opposed to looking down at a woman's small stature. It wasn't even a woman. It was a man, his upper body is covered in a dark, mildly fitting cloth covered in vertical white stripes, which extended up to his head to cover it in a tight hood, exposing only his hands and face. The upper part of the latter, however, is almost always obscured by a metal visor reminiscent of a Medieval sallet, which comes covered with eight small, elongated holes, with four of them in front of each of his eyes, allowing him to see. He wears large armbands, and he has large shoulder pads each with skulls on its center. His waist is circled by a simple dark band, which holds up a massive waistguard made of cloth, which comes in four long, light-colored pieces, each adorned by a dark "_X_", reaching down below his knees. Under such waistguard, the man donned a pair of extremely baggy, loose dark pants, with each leg being adorned by a pair of lighter-colored belts crossing in an "_X_" formation. Such pants are tucked inside a pair of light, armored greaves.

"Naruto." The man spoke clearly even with his tongue hanging loosely out of his mouth, he invited himself in, pushing Naruto back into his apartment.

"Who the hell are you?" Naruto asked angrily, this man had just barged his way into Naruto's home, yet Naruto caught the black Fairy Tail insignia printed on the man's tongue, yet he had never seen him in the guild before.

"We would like a word with you." Naruto turned at the cold, calm, dark voice. A slim man of average height had appeared out of nowhere and was leaning against Naruto's glass door to his balcony. Adorned with very long, light-green hair, almost reaching down to his waist, with long bangs framing his face, and the right one even covering the corresponding part of his face and eye; he also had a pair of thin strands jutting out backwards from the sides of his head, both taking on a lightning-like shape. His hair was gathered at the end and tied in a short ponytail. The second man's eyes were greenish blue, with a distinctive, small beauty mark below his left one, and prominent eyelashes. Like the first man, he was also a member of Fairy Tail he had never seen before, a green Fairy Tail Stamp located on the back of his left hand. Added by IshthakThe man wore an outfit with a four-buttoned, double-breasted red coat, almost reaching down to his knees, which possesses a wide collar, large lighter-colored cuffs decorated by a darker line on the back part, and edges adorned by two, thin golden lines each. Over it was a pair of buckled belts, to which a sword is attached on his left hip. Under it, he wore a simple, light-colored shirt with large cuffs and a mildly high collar, mostly obscured by other pieces of his clothing, among which a light cravat tie around his neck, with the lower part tucked inside the attire completed by a pair of loose light pants tucked inside simple boots, each sporting a line of small buttons on its outer side.

Naruto looked at them both, trying to keep his cool, yet panic was seeping through to the surface, he hadn't healed from his injuries from his fight with Zabrock enough to fight right now, especially taking on two people, who he had no idea what they could accomplish at the same time.

"Keep calm, Naruto. Nothing is going to happen... as long as you hear us out." He turned once again to the corridor that lead to the bedrooms and kitchen, the person speaking had the only recognizable face to him.

"Evergreen, what's going on here!?" He shouted at the brown haired woman, as the three of them closed in around him.

"Naruto Namikaze." A final voice spoke, coming through the front door, the knight moving out of his way. A very tall and muscular blond man with orange eyes strolled towards him. His hair wass slicked back, its numerous spiky strands pointing backwards, though some of it falls down on his forehead. A distinctive lightning bolt-shaped scar was draped over his right eye, accompanied by dark lines circling his eyes, with each of them possessing a single, prominent eyelash jutting outwards. Over his ears were a pair of Magic Headphones with small spikes of the ear pieces. He was adorned in a long black coat with grey trimmings over a purple shirt with the top couple of buttons undone and bluish-black pants held up by a wine red belt. "This is Bixlow, Fried and Evergreen, together they make the Raijinshuu. My name is Laxus Dreyar, and I have to say that you have impressed me."

Naruto's eyes went wide, his mind racing back to his job with Mistgun a few days ago.

_"We believe Laxus has targeted you for his fourth and final member, soon he may make the invitation."_

_"And what if I refuse?"_

_"Impossible. The invitation is impossible to refuse. When I declined, Laxus challenged me to a fight which ended in a draw, although he gained important information and leverage against me during the battle. You are strong Naruto, but you are not on his level. He will destroy you if you refuse."_

'_So it finally came to it after all..._' Naruto thought as he stared at the Guild Master's Grandson. Yet anger seemed to fill him as he stared at the older, taller blonde. "Mistgun said you were powerful, one of the best in Fairy Tail, so why didn't you help out in the war!? Why the hell didn't any of you!?" He shouted angrily at the four of them.

"Because I was testing you, Naruto." Laxus answered calmly to the furious smaller blonde. "If any one of us entered, that war would have been over in an instant. I was testing your potential, to see your magic. _**Rasen**_, that was something unheard of until you came round. _**Pure magic**_ hasn't been used since the days before the First Guild Master of Fairy Tail, it is beyond _**Lost Magic**_. It's _**Ancient Magic**_. And you have a powerful teleportation magic."

"And why don't I use that to get away from you and tell your Grandfather where you are?, after all he's been dying to talk to you." Naruto responded with a cocky attitude.

"Because I have already set up my _**Runes**_ around your apartment." Fried responded, braking Naruto's cockiness in a second. "The rules: No one can escape until the question is asked."

Naruto looked at the green haired man with lost hope, sighing deeply he turned back to Laxus. "So what is it that you want?"

Laxus produced a grin on his face, moving over to Naruto and slinging his bulky arm around Naruto's scrawnier shoulders. "My Raijinshuu is one man short, and I have been patiently waiting for the right person to fill that slot. You, Naruto, are that person." He smiled, poking Naruto almost playfully on the chest, yet still hard enough for Naruto to wince at the quick jab.

"And if I refuse?" Naruto responded calmly, his eyes moving diagonally upwards to look at the other blond looming over him.

Laxus let off a loud hearty laugh at Naruto's reply. "Don't be like that. Being in the Raijinshuu can give you fantastic opportunities to push yourself to usually unattainable heights, only the strongest of mages are in the Raijinshuu." He laughed out, looking towards Naruto, who didn't appear impressed with the opportunity being awarded to him. Okay then, how about a little peace offering and incentive, something to look forward to if you join." He continued, moving away from Naruto. "After Ever told me about your spirit summon magic, I did a little research into it, and I believe I've found the location to one of your spirits."

Naruto's eyes went wide in shock to what Laxus said. "Where is it? Which one is it?"

"Someone said it was the monkey spirit, and apparently the spirit lives on a mountain in Bosco. If you join the Raijinshuu, I will help you find the rest of them."

Naruto stood stunned as the other four occupants moved together to stand in front of him, Laxus then extended his hand towards the smaller blond. "So what do you say? Will you join the Raijinshuu?..."

* * *

><p><strong>AN**: Yo! Rinne here! Firest A/N in a while I didn't want to break up the story by adding an A/N and ruining the flow of the fight. All in all I'd give this a decent 8/10 as far as my ability to write fights goes, pretty damn good. How did you like the fight? Leave a review.

I'd like to thank Agurra of the Darkness, he asked that I put Zabrock into the story and he could have just said 'screw it don't bother' but he didn't.

Speaking of Zabby, how did you like him? I felt that at least he wasn't one dimensional, he did have some character depth. Leave a review about how you feel about him?

I'll soon be focusing directly on building a more intimate relationship between Naruto and Lucy, I feel despite this is a NarutoXLucy fic, I've been lacking in the romance department. Also the spirit summoning magic Naruto has, I'll be incorporating them into more of Naruto's fight.

The next chapter will be involving a time skip, so when it's released don't worry, you haven't missed anything. It won't be a large time skip, just a couple of months, which is how I like to think the canon Fairy Tail is, they do occaasional jobs in between the big arcs.

That being said, I'll be taking a short break from A Kindred Spirt, just to give my other stories some attention, after all, I've updated this four times in the past month. Yet To Become A Master has seen an update since 2011.

So keep a look out for chapter 15, I promise you it will vbe good!

Haven't said this in a long time¬

Until Next Time

Rinne-Kami, Out!


	15. Distance

_Naruto,_

_It's been three months since you disappeared. Right after all that problem with Zabrock and Phantom Lord you just vanished without a trace. You didn't say anything to anyone, you just left. Not even the Master knows where you have gone. I hope you're alright._

_Although, quite frankly I don't know why I'm writing this letter to you. Because you will never see it, because I don't know where to find you. I've checked your apartment every day at 4:13PM, the exact time we first met. But I also check at another time during the day as well, sometimes in the morning, sometimes at night. Your apartment is always spotless, but it looks like you're never there._

_Even your landlady Martha hasn't seen you, she said that she always got a package from you though containing the month's rent, but she said you've never dropped by._

_I know it's a bit weird, but you did offer that I can stay at your apartment whenever I wanted. So I've grown accustomed to staying at your apartment in the night, hoping you might walk through that door after some incredibly long job, then we'd stay up all night talking about it and what you've done, and the places you saw whilst on it._

_But you never do… Sometimes when I stay at your apartment I sleep in your bed, it feels like that is the only way I feel close to you, though I'd have a hard time explaining it if you walked through the door!_

_Things at Fairy Tail have been… different without you, ever since the Phantom Lord incident everyone had a higher opinion of you, they are all sad that you disappeared, but they cover it well, they continue to laugh and smile and have fun. It's good that they don't let themselves be weighed down by hurt._

_Speaking of that, Erza was hurt really bad. We went to a place called the Tower of Heaven, Erza was kidnapped by her old friends and their leader Jellal, yet one of them helped us; Simon, he was a little scary but a nice guy, but Jellal killed him in front of Erza, Jellal was meant to be his friend as well. Natsu beat him up and we couldn't find Jellal's body after the Tower of Heaven collapsed._

_I was so scared then. I don't know why but all I could think about was how you'd swoop in out of nowhere and save me, but you still weren't there. _

_It seems now that every time I feel sad or frightened or alone I picture your calm face, your happy smile and soothing eyes. Will I ever see them again? I don't know. I just want to know what has happened to you? Are you okay? Or did you leave for a reason? You did say that you didn't like staying in one place for too long, but you seemed really happy at Fairy Tail…_

_I guess I just miss you so badly, so much I can barely stand it. I wish all the times you asked me to go on a Job with you I accepted, yet Natsu would always slide in and take me on another adventure. I don't know how you felt, but being constantly rejected like that must have really hurt._

_Please come back, Naruto, so I can apologise. So I can go on more jobs with you. So I can just see that smile again._

_Yours,_

_Lucy._

_XOX_

* * *

><p>Lucy sat at the bar in the hall of Fairy Tail's newly constructed guild building. Still depressed over Naruto's disappearance, her mind had constantly been on him, where was he, who was he with, what was he doing, how was he, and most importantly, why did he leave her?<p>

"You guys! You guys!" She heard Max screamed, he had probably seen something stupid and deemed it important to come running into the guild screaming his head off. "It's Naruto!"

That changed everything, Lucy whipped her body around, staring wide eyed at Max, in his hand was the newest addition of Sorcerer's Magazine. He jumped up onto the bar and held the copy up high, so the members of Fairy Tail could see it as they huddled together.

Lucy never imagined what impact Naruto had had on them all, for all of them to find out exactly where he had gone off to.

Naruto was the front cover of the magazine, and instantly Lucy could see something different about him, it was all there in his eyes. The warmth and comfort present in them was gone, all that was there was coldness, disinterest, like he was angry with the world.

His picture came with a title. "THE **ONLY** INTERVIEW WITH THIS YEAR'S MOST TALKED ABOUT MAGE!"

"Give me that!" Lucy snatched the magazine off of Max, and as she took it the other members of Fairy Tail began to dissipate away from the crowd. They had noticed that Lucy wasn't the same after Naruto had vanished, they could only assumed things, but she became incredibly depressed, so they gave her some privacy to find out what happened to Naruto.

She flicked through the book to find Naruto's interview, when she found it there was another close up of Naruto's face, with the same, uninterested, blank expression on his face. As well as a full body shot, he had changed his clothes. He wore a tight, long-sleeved black, low-cut vee t-shirt, and Magnolia, baggy cargo pants with pockets on the legs leading into black boots, over this was a new cloak, a short sleeved orange cloak with black flames along the bottom of the cloak.

"_Hello readers, and welcome to the only interview with this years most talked about mage: Naruto Namikaze!" _She began reading the interview to herself. _"My name is Jason! And this is the super cool Naruto Namikaze!"_

_Jason: Naruto, you came out of the blue! Out of nowhere, joining Fairy Tail then all of a sudden everyone knew your name! Your fight with Zabrock of the now disbanded Phantom Lord is no secret matter! We're told that the fight was totally cool!_

_Naruto: And your point?_

_Jason: Just that! Afterwards, even more incredible feats got tied to your name! Taking down seven Dark Guilds single-handedly in the past three months, fighting a multitude of Demons, even apparently stopping an Assassination attempt of the Princess of Stella! Suddenly everyone wants more of you! You've been ranked second in 'Most Mysterious Mages' after Mystogan of Fairy Tail. And ranked first in 'Mages we'd like to interview', 'Mages with super cool magic', and by a huge total; 'Mages you'd like as a boyfriend!'_

That one annoyed Lucy a bit, she wasn't sure why, after all Naruto wasn't her boyfriend, but she would sometimes forget just how popular with the girls he could be, what she felt she had with him, if it was anything at all, it went beyond the physical.

_Naruto: True. My name has become known across Fiore and other countries. And there is only one person I can thank for that._

_Jason: And who's that?_

_Naruto: Laxus… Laxus Dreyar of Fairy Tail. If he hadn't have taken me under his wing in the Raijinshuu, I would have never reached my full potential._

_Jason: You're in the Raijinshuu as well!?_

_Naruto: Yes. After my battle with Zabrock, Laxus offered the position as the final member of his Raijinshuu team. I accepted, and I became 'The Guardian of the North', protecting the centre of Fairy Tail from behind: Laxus Dreyar_

_Jason: So cool! At Sorcerer's Magazine we love Laxus! Can you tell us something cool about him?_

_Naruto: Laxus is ready to become the new Guild Master of Fairy Tail, he is strong and dependable. Master Makarov should retire and let Laxus take over, at least then there wouldn't be as much trash in the guild._

_Jason: What do you mean by that?_

_Naruto: Laxus has high hopes for Fairy Tail, to reach them, we'll have to cut out the trash in Fairy Tail. And rest assured, Laxus WILL be Master soon._

_Jason: Okay… Cool, I guess… I'm going to ask you some of the more routine questions now. What is the best quality of Fairy Tail?_

_Naruto: Laxus and the Raijinshuu._

_Jason: Cool! And what is your future dream?_

_Naruto: To see Laxus through to the title as Guild Master._

_Jason: Cool! And what is the most difficult job you have taken?_

_Naruto: …I'd rather not say…_

_Jason: Totally cool with that! Finally, with whom do you have the best relationship with in Fairy Tail?_

_Naruto: Lu-!... Laxus…_

_Jason: Ermm… You responded to that question instantly but then you stopped yourself, and when you answered it was only with half the emotion as before, is something wrong?_

_Naruto: No… This interview is over._

_Jason: Well there you have it! You didn't see it folks but Naruto left with his super cool Teleportation Magic; __**Flash Step**__! Next week we're continuing with the Naruto Topic with a survey at the back of this week's issue, fill it in and we can tally your results for 'The top ten best qualities of Naruto Namikaze!'_

Lucy looked up from the magazine even more heartbroken and depressed than before, she never imagined this happening to him, to have turned so cold towards his friends in Fairy Tail, so say such horrible things about them and the master. Just what had the Raijinshuu done to him? A tear slid down her face as she threw the magazine away.

Max had gone out to get more of them, soon everyone was holding a magazine, each taking it in turn to look up from the magazine with shock.

"What the hell happened to him?" Alzack cursed as he crumpled the magazine in his hand. "I thought he was more like the strong people like Erza, who respect everyone around them, not like Laxus, who just looks down at everyone."

"I don't even recognise him anymore…" Lucy replied to Alzack's comment in a hushed, heartbroken whisper. Or so he thought, in truth, Lucy's thoughts had merely escaped her tongue, allowing them to be viewed by everyone.

* * *

><p>"Laxus! Release them at once!" Makarov screamed at his grandson, who with the help of Evergreen had turned Erza, Mirajane, Bisca, Lucy, Juvia, Levy and Cana to stone.<p>

Laxus laughed loudly, flinging his arm around the stone statue that is Lucy. "If I did the Ii wouldn't have any hostages, would I? And you wouldn't participate in my little game."

"This isn't a game Laxus!" Makarov roared in retaliation. "Those are Fairy Tail mages, our friends and family!"

"But not mine…" Laxus' grin grew frightfully dark, it was a grin Makarov thought his grandson could never produce. "You see, I've had it the mages in this guild, it's gotten to the point where I can't determine whose strong and who's weak anymore, because their all exactly the same. So this is the game: The Battle of Fairy Tail, to see who the strongest mage in Fairy Tail is!"

"Sounds like fun!" Natsu yelled with excitement at the prospect of fighting everyone.

"You've got the right attitude, Natsu." Laxus smiled at the rosy haired mage from the stage.

"Let's start now! I'm going straight after you, Laxus!" Natsu yelled charging towards the stage, letting out a war cry as he jumped into the air. Laxus remained unmoving through Natsu's assault.

"But I hate your style." A punch connecting to Natsu's stomach, pushing him back with powerful force, Natsu crashed straight through a table, and to everyone's surprise stayed down.

"You've got to listen to all of the rules, Natsu…" Everyone was stunned that Naruto had appeared out of nowhere in the short space between Laxus and Natsu, and still swatted the rosy haired mage away with ease.

'_Him…'_ Gajeel stared at the newest blonde's appearance, watching as Naruto calmly rose back up to his feet, standing as a guard between the crowd and Laxus. His mind went back to when he first joined Fairy Tail, and met him for the first time.

"_You, you're Naruto Namikaze, aren't you?" Gajeel asked, finally catching up to the blond he had seen wandering through the town alone, without the Salamander or any of the Fairy Tail mages._

"_I am. And who are you?" The blonde looked over his shoulder towards him, only shifting his body slightly yet not turning fully around to greet him._

"_I'm Gajeel Redfox, you kicked me in the face during Phantom Lord's war with Fairy Tail." Gajeel said with a grin yet slight anger slipped through his tone as well._

"_Are you expecting an apology?" The blond asked in a dull voice, his eyebrow raised as he looked at the black haired mage._

"_You seem different from that time, when you fought Zabrock." Gajeel responded, slightly confused with his change of personality, the blond seemed more dedicated at that time, now he was distant, like he just didn't care. "I hear you were the only one that managed to fight Zabrock and win, even Erza didn't manage to beat him." A large grin then grew back on Gajeel's face. "That makes you my rival, I was the only one who could beat Zabrock in Phantom Lord as well!"_

"_I'm not interested in rivals, you don't compare to me." The blond answered bluntly, turning back around and continuing to walk away. "Forget about Zabrock, he's in the past."_

"_W-Wait!" Gajeel called out as the blond suddenly teleported away, leaving him alone with his own questions to remain unanswered._

Fried and Bixlow also arrived on stage, completing the formation of the Raijinshuu. "Here's the game, you guys have got to find me and challenge me for the strongest mage title. However, my Raijinshuu here will be fighting to make sure you don't. To find me you will have to beat all four of them." Laxus explained with an overly excited grin.

"There are five of us, and about one hundred of you. So I think you've got some pretty fair odds." Bixlow grinned madly, his tongue hanging loosely out of his mouth.

Laxus grinned as well, as a bright lightning created light radiated of his body, blinding everyone from the Raijinshuu's location. "_**The Battle of Fairy Tail… Begins now!**_"

* * *

><p><em>Don't join in right away, Naruto… The Battle would be over too quickly if you joined in from the get go… Wait until the numbers go down to half…<em>

Naruto sat atop of a large building, Laxus' words replaying through his mind. He monitored the battles with his own personal Match board.

'_Their taking too long… I need to get in to the battles…' _He thought as he watched the battles and their outcomes, taking into account had been removed from the game and who was left able to compete.

_**NUMBER OF MAGES REMAINING: 42**_

'_Finally…'_ The blonde smiled, looking through the board of remaining members, finding the perfect one to begin his assault with. _'I'll start with you…'_

"Alzack…" Alzack turned at the mention of his name, Naruto had appeared out of nowhere, smiling at him, yet it wasn't his usual smile, it was much darker. Everything seemed different about the blonde compared to when they went on that Job to Maguma together, he held himself in more confidence and esteem, Alzack could even tell that Naruto was looking down at him, something the blond had never done to anyone during his time in Fairy Tail before.

Runes shot up around them, blocking the street exits and creating a barrier around them. Words written in the Runes appeared, stating the new match up.

_**NEW MATCH:**_

_**NARUTO VS ALZACK CONNELL**_

"Naruto…" Alzack gritted his teeth in anger as the blond stopped his movements keeping a small distance between them. "Why the hell are you doing this!? We're friends!"

"I'm not friends with trash like you…" The blond replied bluntly, Alzack slipped into a battle stance, yet Naruto remained perfectly still, he chuckled darkly, the mocking laugh sending a small shiver down Alzack's spine. "You really think you can beat me?"

"I have to! To save Bisca!" Alzack responded, spitting venom through his teeth with every syllable.

"But not the rest of them…" Naruto chuckled again, "Elife's prediction came true… You did horrible things to your friends, all for her…"

"Are you any different?" Alzack responded with a small smile, hoping to hit a soft spot in Naruto.

"I told you I don't have trash for friends." Naruto answered, Alzack's attempt to get on his nerves failing miserably. "Let me tell you how this works, Alzack. Even in the off event that you somehow take advantage. I can leave whenever I please. Without Fried knowing, I've secretly linked my _**Teleportation**_ to his _**Runes**_. I can enter any fight I please, and I can locate anyone left in the battle field from their location on Fried's board. I'm in complete control, I'm the real master of this game, not Fried…"

Naruto then shifted his body, lifting his fists up into a fighting stance, a cocky, confident smirk grew on his face. "It'll be over in a second, I promise."

* * *

><p><em><strong>NARUTO VS ALZACK CONNELL<strong>_

_**WINNER: NARUTO**_

_**NARUTO VS TONO RABBITS**_

_**WINNER: NARUTO**_

_**NARUTO VS MIKI CHICKENTIGER & CHICO=C=HAMMITT**_

_**WINNER: NARUTO**_

_**NARUTO VS NAB LASARO**_

_**WINNER: NARUTO**_

_**NARUTO VS KROV, NIGGY & ENNO**_

_**WINNER: NARUTO**_

'_How is this possible!?'_ Makarov stared up with horrible at the board as it lit up with new fights and the continuous victor of all of them; Naruto. _'Some of these matches were already in place, yet Naruto entered instantly. Has he tampered with Fried's __**Runes**__ to allow him instant access?'_

_**EVERGREEN VS ERZA SCARELET**_

_**WINNER: ERZA SCARLET**_

Makarov sighed with relief. '_Finally some good news…_' The girls encased in stone were all released instantly, some of them still groggier than others. "There's no time to waste! I need you all out there! You're targets are Bixlow, Fried and Naruto, now go get them!" Makarov ordered them immediately.

Cana, Bisca, Juvia and Mirajane all took off quickly, whilst Lucy stopped to look at the board with sadness. _'What have you done, Naruto?_' She thought of the blonde mage as she carried on outwards.

"Is Naruto really that strong?" Natsu now stood next to Makarov with Gajeel, both locked in with him and Levy working behind them to free them from the age barrier. They all stared up at the board with horror as Naruto names flashed everyone, starting new fights or joining current ones, yet always leaving as the victor.

"He's already S-Class material…" Makarov responded bluntly in a whisper, he couldn't deny what he was seeing, Naruto was incredibly strong, he just never realised to what extent.

Natsu's face then contorted to one of anger, staring with venom at the mentioned blonde's name. "I remember when I first met him, I asked him to join Fairy Tail with Lucy, I didn't expect him to be this strong, or to act like this…"

"Naruto's nothing like that!" They all turned to Levy, who was kneeling on the floor next to them working on breaking down the Runes, yet she had stopped to look up to them angrily, a tear in her eyes. "Naruto's not a bad person! Remember how hard he fought for Fairy Tail against Zabrock! We haven't known him long, but I took a job with him, and we've been friends for a while! I know his heart! He would do anything for his friends and doesn't disrespect anyone! There's definitely a reason behind why he's acting like this!"

They all stared down surprised at the blue haired girls powerful words, even Makarov seemed touched by the words. "Levy-chan..." He spoke, trying to contain the emotion as he looked back up to the match board. "How quickly can you get us out of here? We're going to need all the help we can get for Fried and Naruto, after them, it's just Laxus."

"I'm all fired up!" Natsu seemed rather pumped up by Levy's words. "I really wanna fight all three of them, but I'm aiming for Naruto then Laxus, I'm gonna beat the reason for him doing this out of him!"

"Get in line then, Salamander!" Gajeel grinned, yet obviously as pumped as Natsu. "I already claimed the blondie as my rival!"

* * *

><p>Naruto looked behind him, giving one confident filled scoff. Behind him laid, Mikuni Sin, Joey Fullbun and Wang ChanJi, all unconscious, he looked back up at the board.<p>

_**NARUTO VS MIKUNI SIN, JOEY FULLBUN & WANG CHANJI**_

_**WINNER: NARUTO**_

"How you three have survived this long is beyond me." He spoke allowed, despite knowing that none of them would hear his words.

The board lit up again, Naruto watched as the remaining Fairy Tail members went back up by six. "Evergeen went down then, I guess the captives were set free and have joined the fray."

New matches began lighting up, most of the new contestants had found the remaining two Raijinshuu beside him, others came to fight each other right off the bat, however there was only one new fight that held any interest to him.

_**NEW MATCH:**_

_**BIXLOW VS LUCY**_

Naruto stared up at the notice in silence, without any more time wasted, he disappeared, leaving the three downed Fairy Tail members behind as he went to his newest destination.

* * *

><p><em><strong>BIXLOW VS LUCY <strong>_

_**WINNER: LUCY**_

Makarov stared up at the bored with Natsu, both looking with utter shock at the result, large grins began erupting on their faces as they broke into cheers.

"Wait a go Lucy!" Natsu yelled in applause for the blonde haired girl as he hugged Makarov, two of the Raijinshuu were down, only Naruto and Fried remained now, things were beginning to look up.

The board suddenly lit up again and their cheers silenced, both of them looked up at the board with new found horror, even more than last time.

_**NEW MATCH:**_

_**LUCY VS NARUTO**_

'_Damn it!_' Makarov cursed inwardly to himself after seeing the new match up. '_She's just finished taking on one of the Raijinshuu, and now she has to deal with the worst one!_' His fists tightened as he looked down to the ground, trying to contain the anger building inside him. '_Naruto has taken things too far! If I could just get out of here! I'd deal with him myself!'_

"IT'S NOT FAIR, DAMIT IT!" Natsu was much more vocal with his rage. "Lucy gets two fight two of the Raijinshuu and I'm still stuck in here!" He pounded on the barrier with force, hoping to escape.

"I WANNA JOIN IN!"

* * *

><p>Lucy blushed as Loki cradled her, showing the blonde girl his new 'I love Lucy' light against a wall. But she didn't mind, she couldn't believe she had just beaten one of the Raijinshuu, her of all people managing to beat one.<p>

"How cute…" Her eyes snapped wide open at the painfully familiar voice, her eyes fearfully moved to the location, her breath lodged in her throat the instant she laid eyes upon him.

Naruto leaned against the wall where Loki's light was being projected, the love heart ironically placed over his own chest. "N-Naruto… W-What are you doing here?" She asked, horrified with their sudden reunion.

Naruto only grinned darkly as the Rune borders came back up. Blocking any chance of escape for her. The new match was present on the board, and Lucy succumbed to the fear, scared stiff by the simplicity yet dreaded meaning behind the words presented.

_**NEW MATCH:**_

_**NARUTO VS LUCY**_

"There's no way I can fight you…" She muttered out, yet Naruto had managed to hear, his grin grew larger at her hopelessness.

"Is it because you know you have no chance against me?" His words stabbed her like ten thousand needles. Each letter like his own personal little jab to her heart.

Loki stepped in between both of them, he was panting heavily, and exhausted from his fight with Bixlow. "I won't let you do any harm to Lucy. I thought you were different than this, Naruto?" He spoke with anger, his eyes darkening towards the male blonde.

"Why does everyone keep saying that?" The blond chuckled out, before his own eyes locking with Loki's. "_None_ of you knew me. _None_ of you knew who I truly was…"

Slowly, he reached for a _**Platinum Disc**_ from his back pocket, taking out his _**Summon Gun**_ as well. Then quickly he loaded the disc into the barrel. His large, dark grin growing even wider across his face as he pointed the gun towards them. "Now let's do this!..."

* * *

><p><strong>AN:** Yo! Rinne here! Yeah I was gonna take a month's break from this, but I couldn't get away. This fic is the only one that doesn't feel like a chore when I write it, probably because it's actually going somehwere, it's got plot and sub-plots all planned out, so I've come back to it.

Anyways, there was a three month time skip, so you haven't missed anything, I may go back through the months to show what Naruto was up to, but only key points, one point in it needs to be addressed, so I will mention that at some point.

Things I need to address:

Naruto DID in fact join the Raijinshuu, you can take guesses why, but it will be revealed in the up coming chapters.

Naruto's sudden influence on the guild and the public, that was addressed through Naruto's activities mentioned during his interview. And since he beat Zabrock the guild respected him so much more, not just because he defeated an opponent that no one else could, but because of the loyalty and devotion he should to Fairy Tail, as the newbie he is was pretty impressive to them.

The acknowledgement of Naruto's power: The fact is I haven't even begun to scratch the surfaces of Naruto's strength, he won't be a Gary Stu, there's still no way he could defeat the likes of Mystogan, Gildarts, Laxus or Makarov, but he is still easily the strongest member of the Raijinshuu, and therefore one of the more powerful members of Fairy Tail, that's why they were chosen by Laxus for his team.

Naruto's sudden change in personality, you can blame it on Ego, more confidence in his abilities, the fact that all Raijinshuu members seem to think in the same exact way he does in this chapter. Again all things will be revealed in upcoming chapters.

Skipping the Tower of Heaven: Once again, I'm trying to move passed sticking to Canon events and let Naruto go on his own personal journeys. I skipped the Tower of Heaven simply because Naruto didn't need to be there. It would have been a waste of time writing it.

Anyways, that's pretty much it. The story will continue in Chapter 16: The Hardest Job

Until Next Time,

Rinne-Kami, Out!


	16. The Hardest Job

You're not the only one that got a new spirit, Lucy!" Naruto grinned with malicious content. "Load Platinum Disc!" He pointed the gun directly towards them. "_**Summon: Ninth Year Shenshi: Treinatien the Monkey!"**_

A grand light appeared, and when it dissolved a monkey, balancing on its tail appeared, set in the lotus meditative stance with its eyes closed. The monkey had a muscular physique with long, spiky yet bushy brown fur, it was adorned in a blue jump suit, the sleeves of which had been ripped off and a hole been torn in the back for its tail to go through. The pants of the jumpsuit were wrapped into white bandages, as were its forearms.

"Oh… this is a surprise." The monkey spoke in a calm, wisdom filled voice, like an old teacher who had seen the world. "To fight the leader of the Celestial Spirits, will I Entertain you enough, Leo the Lion?" His eyes opened to reveal a calm, yet blood red sclera and no pupils.

"Damn, this will be harder than I thought." Loki cursed, slipping further into a stance. "Lucy," He spoke to his blond summoner. "We can't let Treinatien build any momentum. He'll destroy us otherwise."

"Is he really that strong?" Lucy asked worriedly, now looking at the monkey in a new light of fear.

"Yes, without a doubt he is one of the strongest Shēngxiào, perhaps just behind Riegin in terms of power. Plus, us Spirits power is amplified by the strength of our summoner, considering Naruto's strength, Bixlow and his dolls are nothing compared to him." Loki gritted his teeth, his brow lowering in anger and worry. "Treinatien is a more close combat martial art spirit, which is lucky for us considering the magic he has as well." Loki then locked his eyes onto the Monkey Spirit. "_**The Art of Five Strong Fists**_, I've seen it once, it was captivating as it was terrifying!"

"And what about his magic?" Lucy asked with fear, Loki was badly hurt after his battle with Bixlow, and she knew Naruto was already so much stronger than her. How tough will this Spirit opponent be?

"Just pray he doesn't use it…" Loki responded, a bright light surrounding both his fists as he prepared to attack.

"As you made the introduction, I shall make the first attack!" Treinatien said wit a powerful, yet still calm tone.

With great speed he appeared before Loki, throwing his fist towards Loki, who intercepted it with his hand, catching the blow. Treinatien then threw his other fist, Loki capturing that as well. Loki groaned and struggled under the intense pressure caused by the Monkey, who let off a small smile.

"You are trapped, I have the advantage." He smiled, from behind his tail swung around his own body and rocketed into Loki's abdomen, knocking the wind out of him and pushing him back many metres, Loki crumpled onto the floor, holding his stomach with pain.

'I used too much power with Bixlow, I can't fight against him at my best potential!' Loki thought with worry, looking back at the Monkey, who had jump back, landing on his left leg, performing a perfect 180 degree vertical split, his right foot had curled up to make a fist, and both his hands were locked into fists and ready for an attack, his tail also shooting out in another direction, the tip of the tail curled to make a fifth fist.

"Here I come!" He spoke, suddenly he began spinning rapidly, Loki lost sight of every appendage from the speed at which he was spinning. The spinning Monkey moved deadly close, and Loki simply just couldn't react.

He was bombarded by hundreds of strikes, all arriving at different times from different directions, yet all with powerful force. Fists, feet, tail, all hitting with precision and unimaginable force.

Loki lost balance and near consciousness. "Lucy, I'm sorry…" He whispered out, Treinatien appeared directly above him, all of his limbs pressing down on his body, Treinatien himself had crouched down over him.

With great force he sprung up, or rather his limbs sprung down, uncoiling to sending Loki through the roof of the building they were standing on, straight through into the Earth below them. Loki quickly disappeared in a dim light, heading back to the Spirit World, his injuries too severe to stay in the Human World.

"T-That's insane…" Lucy stammered out with fear. A tear shedding down her face for Loki. He was right, the way Treinatien moved, it was elegant and beautiful and captivating in every aspect, but the damage caused was out of this world. Wiin had beaten Taurus with ease, and now Treinatien decimated the leader of the 12 Celestial Zodiac Spirits, granted Loki was injured, but just how above her spirits were the Shēngxiào?

"Treinatien, you can go back. I'll deal with this myself now." Naruto smiled towards his spirit, Treinatien nodded, disappearing in a quick flashing light. "It's just you and me now Lucy, you're going to have to fight."

"I-I don't want to fight you, Naruto." She said, for the first time experience deep fear for the blond.

"You've got no choice, Lucy! Fight me!" Naruto roared back to her with fury.

She closed her eyes, tears streaming from them as she squeezed her clenched hands close to her chest, to her heart. "No!"

"_**LUCY!**_" He bellowed with utmost rage. "I'll end this in an instant if you don't fight!" His hand extended up into the air. "A new spirit isn't all I've learned! I've improved _**Rasen**_ as well! _**Pure Magic**_ is weakened by channelling it into a Medium or Element! I've done the opposite and strengthened it! I channelled the Element into _**Pure Magic**_!"

His Rasen: Gan appeared, instead of its usual blue, it was a bright glowing white, her ears were bombarded with a loud, screeching sound, from the orb four curved thin blades appeared, and the wind whirled around it, was this what it felt like to be caught in a Hurricane? Or a Tornado? "_**Fūton Rasen: Shuriken!**_" The orb expanded slightly larger as the blades began spinning much more quickly.

"STOP IT, NARUTO!" She ran directly towards him, catching him off guard. She ran straight into his chest, sobbing onto his shirt. "Stop it, please…" She cried, she could hear the sound beginning to disappear. "Please!" She banged her fist against his chest quickly, she didn't want to hurt him at all, she just wanted her Naruto back. She hit him again, and again, and again, hoping to beat the message into him.

"AGH!" She heard him yell out in pain, he backed away from her, and she watched him clutching where she had hit him with pain, she listened to him cream and yell overdramatically in pain.

"Shit, I took too much damage from that attack!" She listened to him yell, again overdramatically, like a bad actor faking immense pain. His eyes suddenly began to close as he fell backwards. "I'm losing consciousness…" He muttered out weakly as he hit the ground, laying there motionless with his eyes closed, still dramatically holding the part of his chest where she beat him.

As the tears stopped and began to dry on her face, the board lit up on the Runes surrounding them. She looked up with it in confusion.

_**NARUTO VS LUCY**_

_**WINNER: LUCY**_

A bead of sweat dropped from her head as she stared up at the board with here eyes wide, her eye twitched as she stared at the message.

"WHHHAAAAAAAAATTTTTT!?"

* * *

><p><em><strong>NARUTO VS LUCY<strong>_

_**WINNER: LUCY**_

Makarov, Gajeel and Natsu all stared up at the screen with utter disbelief, their left eyes twitched at the information placed in front of them.

"I-Impossible!" Gajeel worded out in utter shock. "Did I seriously underestimate that cheerleader blondie by that much!?"

"Way to go, Lucy!" Natsu suddenly screamed loudly with happiness. "I wanna fight Lucy now more than anything! Taking down two of the Raijinshuu one after the other!"

Levy could only smile as she looked up at the notification, she remembered back when she had first met Naruto, his happiness, his calm, his respect to them before he even knew them.

_"This is Lu-chan's boyfriend, you know the one I was telling you about..."_

'_I knew there was something, Naruto… And I think I figured it out…'_ She humorously giggled quietly to herself, getting back to work on cracking the Runes. _'I know you could never hurt Lu-chan!'_

Makarov looked down from the screen, hiding his relief yet letting at a content sigh. '_What a relief, Naruto went down…_' He looked back up to the screen, remembering the last words the blond had said to him. '_Your job is finished now Naruto, but what are you up to?_'

* * *

><p>Naruto poked his left eye open, keeping the remainder of his body perfectly still, he peeked over to the match board that appeared, reading its content.<p>

_**NARUTO VS LUCY**_

_**WINNER: LUCY**_

He smiled widely, standing back up onto his feet, brushing away all the dust from his clothes after his falling down. "I'm glad that's over with. I should apologise to Loki sometime, I think Treinatien may have gone overboard considering the state he was already in." He said aloud, looking to Lucy, who looked unbelievably shocked at what was occurring. "Hey." He let off a wide toothy grin towards her, accompanied by a small wave.

"W-What the hell is going on!?" She shouted angrily after being so stunned as she was, but a red tint had appeared across her cheeks.

She wasn't angry really, how could she be? It was that same smile, that same comforting aura, those same deep eyes she had missed so much and had been longing to see over the past three months.

Naruto chuckled nervously, scratching the back of his head sheepishly. "I guess I really should explain what's goings on, after all it's quite confusing…"

_**-Flashback-**_

"So how long did Laxus give you to answer?" Makarov sat in deep contemplation as Naruto told him what had happened with the Raijinshuu at his apartment.

"I told him I'd have an answer for him by the end of the night." Naruto responded, standing in front of the old man. They stood alone in Makarov's private office, Naruto had asked for utmost privacy for the conversation. "Quite frankly I'm surprised that he gave me the time to think about it."

"It's a big deal to him, he must really want you in the Raijinshuu." Makarov replied with a nod of his head, that Grandson of his, he didn't know what to do with him.

"I'm really worried, Master." Makarov opened his eyes to look at the blonde, Naruto didn't need to tell him that, he could see it across his face, and in his blue eyes. "I'm worried what will happen if I refuse, will he target my friends until they reply. Mystogan told me Laxus doesn't take no for an answer. I'm worried about Lucy as well…" The blond admitted, revealing his deepest worry. "She's so strong to smile after everything she's gone through, but she's still so fragile. That makes her weak in Laxus' eyes, I'm worried that if I refuse he will target her in some way."

"Then join the Raijinshuu." Makarov responded to Naruto's surprise. "Actually, this is a great opportunity for both of us, the Raijinshuu are amongst the strongest members in Fairy Tail, you can learn a lot from them, and for me…" Makarov paused for a moment letting out a heavy hearted sigh. Laxus is the problem child in this family, he's causes me the most grief, but at the same time I love him the most, he is my Grandson after all, and I will always look out for him…"

"Which is why I have a job for you. One only you can do, Naruto." Makarov continued, with more seriousness in his eyes. "I want you to watch Laxus closely for me, it's something that can only be done by a member of the Raijinshuu, they are the only ones close to him." Makarov asked him, showing his more emotional side for his grandson once again. "I worry about Laxus as well, it scares me knowing he can accomplish sometimes."

"I'll do it Master Makarov." Naruto agreed with a smile. "I'll watch out for him, you can count on me!"

"I don't think you understand fully, Naruto." Makarov spoke again with more seriousness. "If you join the Raijinshuu, you must leave the rest of us behind."

"What!?" Naruto eyes snapped wide open with utter shock, taking a step back from the utter surprise of Makarov's statement. "Why do I have to do that!?"

"Laxus considers everyone else weak. There's a reason the Raijinshuu are never present at the Guild. Laxus doesn't want them interacting with us 'trash'…"Makarov explained in more detail. "It's horrible for me to ask you to do this Naruto, to leave your friends behind for me. But it is what must be done if you want to be successful in gaining Laxus' trust."

"Laxus plans to usurp my position of Guild Master, I know it." Makarov continued, looking back down to the floor with sadness once again. "And I bet the Raijinshuu know when he plans to do it. So even if it takes a week, a month, or even a year, you will have to stay by his side, not ours. You will not be able to have any contact with the rest of us. And you will probably have to adopt traits of his in order to gain his trust."

"Would I really have to that?" Naruto asked, still in shock at the position he was just put in, things had got even deeper than he could have imagined from something as simple as an invitation to join a team.

"Fried is in the same position as you. He loves Fairy Tail and cares deeply for its members. He would never hurt them, but if Laxus asked him to fight them, he would do so without hesitation. He respects Laxus above all others, Laxus would demand that same amount of loyalty from you." Makarov sighed heavily, looking even more depressed. "It's a terribly heavy burden I am trying to place on you, I can understand if you say no…"

"I'll do it…" Makarov looked upwards towards the blond in total surprise, the blond flashing a confident smile towards the aged man. "Fairy Tail is a family. And Laxus… well he's like an older brother, everyone looks up to him and respects him. Someone's gotta set him on the right path and set in straight so he can be a good role model, even if sometimes that person is the younger brother."

"Naruto…" Makarov looked at the young blond, a tear forming in his eye, how much did Naruto remind him of himself back when he was young, his utter determination, his commitment and loyalty to Fairy Tail. A smile grew on the old man's face. "You'd have to leave tonight, you cannot say goodbye to anyone, and you absolutely can't tell anyone about this plan, we can't risk Laxus finding out through someone else." He mentioned further. "But if you are successful, I can promise you great rewards."

"I don't care about the rewards." Naruto grinned, turning around and walking towards the door to his office. "It's for the good of Fairy Tail, that's reward enough for me." He waved over his shoulder towards the old man.

Yet before he opened the door he paused again, looking towards Makarov with a small fire in his eyes. "Master, please protect Lucy, don't let anything like what happened to Phantom Lord happen to her again…"

_**-Flashback-End-**_

"I'm so sorry, Lucy…" Naruto spoke sadly, looking down after being able to look her in her deep brown eyes. "I wanted to tell you so badly why I couldn't be there for you. And I tried to warn Fairy Tail about this Battle, but I only found out last week Laxus was planning it, it seems Laxus didn't trust me enough to tell me sooner." He said honestly, finally looking back up to meet her in the eye. "That's the only reason I actually did that interview with Sorcerer's Magazine, but I was afraid of what Laxus would have done if I revealed too much, that guy is so much stronger than me, it took all my convincing to persuade him to let me do that interview to beef up his game. I figured you or Levy would have been able to figure out the clues I left in the interview… Guess I left them too cryptic, huh?"

Lucy only stared at the blond in front of her with utter disbelief. "You did all that for the Master, for one member of the Guild? You wanted to protect it so badly you disconnected yourself from everyone else to help with the one internal threat?"

Naruto's face saddened further, seeming to choke on his own breath in an attempt to stifle his emotions from leaking out. "It was the hardest job I had ever done, and I failed miserably…"

_And what is the most difficult job you have taken?_

_I'd rather not say…_

Lucy's eyes widened, remembering his words in that interview she read. "This was the hardest job you've ever had to do?"

"To stay away from Fairy Tail, from my friends… _from you_. It was torture…" He replied honestly, yet still filled with sadness as he spoke.

Lucy could only smile at him, slowly she walked towards him and wrapped her arms around his waist. "It's good to have you back… the real you. I'm glad…"

Naruto stood still for a moment, before reciprocating the warmth of the hug back to her, wrapping his arms around her entire body and holding her tight. "It's good to be back…" He whispered gently into her ear, both of them savouring the warmth of the moment, the tenderness of the embrace.

Both lingered in the embrace for a moment or two longer. "We can't stop here…" Naruto eventually spoke, pulling away from the hug. "Just because the Raijinshuu are down and the hostages are released, Laxus won't stop here. In fact thing just got a whole lot worse!" He looked up to the sky, two hundred floating orbs with lightning bolt shaped Lacrima were floating in a perfect circle around the city. "Hall of Thunder… The whole city is in trouble! We have to warn everyone!"

The board suddenly lit up again to their surprise, both focused on it to see what was happening exactly.

NUMBER OF OTHER CONTESTANTS: 1

"Other contestants? What does that mean?" Lucy asked with confusion towards the blond, who looked just as confused as she did.

"I have no idea, this whole game is linked to Fried's Runes, only Fairy Tail members are programmed into its writing. Let me expand the board and see what I can find out." Beginning to play with the screen and Runes, Lucy was amazed at what he was doing, so easily hacking through the Runes' configuration. "There! Now let's find the name of this 'Other Contestant'!" He grinned happily.

Yet as soon as the known appeared he recoiled in shock, Lucy watched as he backed away from the screen with what looked like fear, she looked back towards the board, reading the name presented.

_**SPEDISIE**_

"Spedisie? What's a Spedisie?" She asked curiously, she had never even heard the name before, yet from Naruto's reaction he apparently knew.

"This is bad!" The gritted through his teeth, a bead of sweat dropping from his forehead. He then looked towards Lucy, and his brow furrowed with contemplation. "I'm sorry Lucy, I'll have to explain everything later, I've got to deal with this now!" He said, pulling his gun and loading two Platinum Discs into it. "_**Load Platinum Disc! Summon: **__**Third Year Yinshi: Wiin the Tiger! Eleventh Year Xushi: Yirrow the Dog!**_"

His two spirits appeared apparently ready for battle. "Yirrow, Wiin! I need you two stay here and look after Lucy! If you can warn everyone in Fairy Tail about the Hall of Thunder, but make sure you protect Lucy!"

"Naruto, us being here will have a constant drain on your magic, and if Spedisie is here you can't afford to be lacking magic!" Yirrow barked back with what looked like fear as well. What was so bad about this Spedisie character was all Lucy could help but wonder if they had wound up Naruto and his spirits like this?

"I don't care! Just keep her safe!" Naruto almost ordered back at his spirits. "Besides I've never had a problem with Magic Drainage before!" He said, turning to the board again and pin pointing Spedisie's location, instantly he teleported away leaving Lucy so very confused.

* * *

><p>"What are you doing here, Spedisie!?" Naruto landed at the correct location, looking around for the person, though in all honesty he had never seen what Spedisie looked like, only his eyes when they spoke in the Drifting Mountains, and even then Spedisie remained lurking in the shadows.<p>

"I came to see you, Naruto. To make sure you hadn't forgotten me." His body turned to the direction of the voice.

A person stood leaning against a wall to a house with his arms crossed, still covered by shadow. Slowly he walked out into the light, and Naruto finally could see what Spedisie looked like, who the person who had been stalking and following him looked like.

He was surprised to say the least. He imagined someone… older. Considering the way his spirits spoke about him. But it was a boy, closer to his own age. Yet Naruto knew it was him, his odd eyes were the giveaway, his right eye a deep, dark ocean blue, his left an electric yellow. Spedisie had pale skin and young masculine facial features, with two red dots on his forehead in the place of eyebrows and shoulder-length white hair, which he wore divided down the middle on his head by an atypical zig-zag hair parting with two separate partings on either side of his face. His outfit was consisting of a light lavender, loose-fitting, long-sleeved, zip-up shirt, black pants cut off around mid-calf, bandages wrapped around his ankles, blank sandals, and a purple, a rope-like belt tied in an inverted bow around his waist. He also wore two red, tube-like hair ornaments; one on either side of his head, securing two locks of his silvery-white hair.

"So I can finally see you!" Naruto grinned towards the boy. "Now what do you want?"

Spedisie laughed loudly, it was slightly childish, like a kid who did understand the joke but laughed innocently away anyways. "I told you I wanted to see you."

"How did you get in to the city? Entry is blocked by Runes, powerful Runes for the time being. No one can leave or enter. How did you get in?" Naruto questioned angrily, meeting Spedisie's amused gave with one of annoyance and anger.

Spedisie only laughed again, infuriating Naruto further. He formed Rasen: Gan in his palm once again, yet this time it glowed a dim grey in colour. "_**Raiton Rasen: Kumo Iriguchi!**_"

Clouds began swirling around the orb, began created from thin air and darkening in colour until they turned black. Naruto threw the spinning orb into the air, the swirling clouds following it.

Lighting struck from overhead in a vortex shape, reducing everything around him to rubble in a second, he watched as Spedisie was engulfed in the lighting blasts. Then quickly covered his eyes from the debris swirling around from the Lightning vortex.

As the spell ended Naruto looked around, he couldn't see Spedisie anywhere. '_Is it over already?_' He wondered, was it really that easy to rid himself of Spedisie?

He felt a sharp stabbing pain run through his shoulder, Naruto yelled in pain as it forced him to the ground. The pain was accompanied by Spedisie's delighted laugh.

When he looked he saw Spedisie standing over him, from his had a sword made of Bone had appeared and stabbed him. '_**Bone Magic!?**_' Naruto thought in utter shock and disbelief, he had never heard of such a thing before.

"That power, Naruto!" Spedisie grinned madly towards him. "That's exactly why I want you!"

"How!?" Naruto stared back at him with shock, the pain going through his should was unbelievable

"So many questions!" Spedisie laughed out again, looking down towards his other hand, the bone sword began growing even more, twisting as it did causing Naruto to scream out in intense agony, something that made Spedisie only grin and laugh even more sadistically. "I've adapted to this world quite well, better than the others. I've even picked up a few tricks here, one of them being _**Runes Magic**_."

"What do you mean adapted to this world? What others?" Naruto questioned even further, not liking Spedisie's cryptic answers.

A blinding light appeared before him and Spedisie jumped away from him as the light grew larger and larger, he had to cover his eyes to shield himself from it. When it dimmed it revealed all his spirits standing in between himself and Spedisie, even Yirrow and Wiin, both tattered and bruised for some unknown reason. Elife, Treinatien, and Riegin and come as well, Riegin being adorned in his battle armour. Even the usually complaining about battles Leiru had appeared, yet he remained cowering behind Riegin's leg, only peeking his head around to stare at Spedisie.

"Yirrow! Wiin! What happened to you!? Is Lucy safe!?" He asked immediately after seeing the state they are in.

"She is safe." Yirrow responded with a smile, looking over his shoulder towards his blond summoner. "I'm surprised you didn't notice that the Hall of Thunder has been destroyed, we had to destroy all the orbs simultaneously, and we destroyed some to save Lucy from further injury. Rest assured she is safe."

"Lucy? Who's Lucy, Naruto?" Spedisie chuckled mischievously to himself again, yet speaking to the blond.

'_Shit!_' Naruto gritted his teeth with anger and worry, boy did he just screw things up big time.

"Who are you?" Riegin asked angrily towards the boy, his voice echoing in the mask covering his face.

"Surely you guys recognise me, don't you?" Spedisie laughed, spreading his arms wide as he continued chuckling. "It's me, Spedisie!"

"Your eyes are Spedisie's but nothing else. Whose body is that?" Wiin's eyes darkened, his hands reaching for the dual swords sheathed at his waist.

"My, my, you guys aren't being very nice to me now, are you?" Spedisie laughed again, before looking directly at Leiru, his eyes widening to accompany a sick, twisted grin. Leiru jumped in fear from the gaze before ducking behind Riegin some more. "What's the matter, Leiru? You're usually so mouthy! Cat got your tongue?... And eyes, and eyes, and feet, and spine?"

"I-I-I-I-I-I have n-n-n-nothing to say to you, Spedisie!" Leiru whimpered out in utter fear, something Naruto realised. Leiru was the only one that genuinely looked scared of Spedisie.

"Spedisie. You WILL leave now. And you WILL leave Naruto alone." Riegin spoke with great power in his voice.

"You don't Reign over me, Riegin!" Spedisie returned with still a gleefully sadistic grin. "Quite truthfully, I Despise each and every last one of you, even more so now that your standing in between me and my goal."

"What do you want with Naruto?" Treinatien asked angrily, his arms folded as he glared at the boy across from them.

Spedisie still just chuckled, not fazed at all from the situation he was in. "You can't protect him forever, and the moment you slip up is when I will have him!"

Spedisie looked over to Elife, who had remained quiet throughout. Her eyes were deep in contemplation, yet locked intensely on himself. "I've learned how to block your _**Knowledge Feeling**_ out, Elife. But here, I'll show you what you want to know." He grinned as his eyes widened to their full capacity, staring back at the Snake.

Naruto watched as Elife's face turned into one off grimace, disgust, and utter fear. "T-That's impossible!" Elife's stammeringly hissed out as she stared with fearfully back at the boy.

"Now you know…" Spedisie grinned once again, before looking back too Naruto through his spirits. "See you soon, Naruto…" He giggled at mischievously again as his body began to disappear in an inky black haze.

At that moment a bright light appeared in the distance, Naruto knew it was coming from the Kardia Cathedral, Laxus' location. '_What's going on?_' he wondered as he stared at the bright light growing larger and larger, coming towards him as well. '_Is it over…?_'

* * *

><p><strong>AN:** Yo! Rinne here! Well whacked out another update, I felt I couldn't leave the story there with Naruto's sudden change of personality, so I whipped this chapter up to answer your questions.

So Naruto's whole change in personality was just an act to gain Laxus trust and spy on him, or was it? How much of it was an act? This will be addressed in future chapters.

New Shengxiao spirit time! Treinatien the Monkey, god I've been waiting for him to arrive! Treinatien's challenge and this'magic' he has will be addressed in future chapters. Proper pronunciation of his name - Tray-nah-teen

Naruto's improvement on Rasen. Had to be done really, it wouldn't be Naruto without the Rasenshuriken, he has one for each of the five elements, water, Earth, Wind, Fire and Lightning we've seen Wind and Lightning in this chapter, but I'm gonna create more for the sub elements hopefully, like metal, Ice and what not. _**Kumo Iraguchi**_ hopefully means **_Cloud Gateway_**

You guys thought I forgot about Spedisie didnt you? Nope, he's back and will be central through the upcoming chapters, his plans have been hinted in this chapter as well as Who and What he really, if you figure it out PLEASE don't write it in your review and spoil it for others. But its good, trust me.

Okay! Next chapter is a big one, The Shengxiao spirits history will finally be revealed! As well as Spedisie's apparent connection to them. So look forward to Chapter 17 - Revelations

A picture of Treinatien is on my profile if you want to glance.

Until Next Time,

Rinne-Kami, Out!


	17. Revelations

"To think Spedisie could even consider that…" Riegin spoke solemnly, surprisingly shaken instead of his usual calm demeanour.

"I knew he was bad, but this… it's unbelievable…" Leiru added, the Rat Spirit still covered in Goosebumps from seeing Spedisie once again.

"The worssst thing isss…. Spedisie only let me feel a fragment of his mind… of his plan… I have no idea what he plans to accomplish with this…" Elife hissed with deep contemplation and fear, never had anyone been able to block her out of their mind, just how dangerous had Spedisie become?

"We'd need Teaterri to find out what Spedisie plans, unfortunately Naruto hasn't found her yet." Leiru jutted in once again, pointing out a rather obvious fact to the other spirits.

Wiin's might fist slammed into the table of clouds at which they were sitting, they had remained in their private spirit world for the time being for this conversation. Their world was unlike the other Stellar Spirits, theirs was much more ancient, and much more vacant. Only the Shēngxiào occupied this space, however 4 large golden gates were at each corner of their world, all four with large padlocks made of Benitoite on the doors. The Jade Emperor had instructed them to never go past the gates, and so they obeyed. Yet one gate had its padlock unlocked, and they all wondered what lay beyond. "We must tell Naruto now! Too long have we kept our past with Spedisie hidden from him, he will not trust us anymore if we do not tell him the danger he is in!"

"I have to agree with Wiin, I don't know why you didn't tell Naruto of Spedisie sooner, but he will have many questions now after having a proper confrontation with him." Treinatein jutted in, sitting on one of the twelve cushions surrounding the table, yet six were still vacant.

"I will tell Naruto…" Yirrow spoke up after remaining silent the majority of the conversation. "Despite knowing Wiin, Elife, Leiru and Riegin longer, it appears I have the closest connection to him. It would be better for him to hear it from me."

"No, I will tell him. Treinatien is right, Naruto will have many questions, and I can only assume that some of them will involve our own connection to Spedisie." Riegin responded to the other spirits surprise, a small smile grew on the Dragon Spirit's face. "Yet we will all be there together when he is told."

* * *

><p>Naruto sat on his couch in his apartment, he had missed every little detail about it while he was away. He currently sat shirtless, with a bandage wrapped over his shoulder where Spedisie had pierced him with that Bone sword. He grunted quietly as he rolled his shoulder, flexing through the pain, it had never taken an injury to heal as long as this one did for him.<p>

A bright light appeared, blinding him, when it faded all his spirits were there, he looked up in confusion at them, but with also a small humoured smile. "What is it with people and inviting themselves into my apartment?"

"This is important, Naruto." Riegin responded bluntly. "Its time you knew everything."

Naruto's smile faded as he looked at his spirits. "Then tell me everything, why is Spedisie after me? And why does he hate all of you? Why was Leiru so scared of him? Was he an old summoner of yours?"

"No, there can only ever be one Shēngxiào spirit summoner at a time." Yirrow answered the last question asked. "Spedisie was once a friend of ours. He himself, is a Spirit. Spedisie is the Cat Spirit…"

Naruto's eyes widened beyond belief with shock at the statement. "So is he part of the Shēngxiào?"

"No. His ordeal with us goes before the creation of the Shēngxiào Zodiac, actually it goes to the birth of it." Treinatien answered quickly in a calm manner.

"When the Jade Emperor first created us, there were hundreds of spirits, one for every animal." Riegin began to explain. "But it left our world in disarray and chaos, it left things out of balance and without order. So the Jade Emperor made an ultimatum, only 12 would remain." Riegin began to looked sad as he delved further and further into their history.

"But He couldn't choose 12 of his creations to survive Himself, He loved us all. So in order to make the decision, we all were to participate in a game. The Great Race. The first twelve to cross the finish line would become the Shēngxiào. The others… would be erased from existence…"

"That's horrible! How could the Jade Emperor do that!?" Naruto shouted in shock and disgust at the revelation of what the Jade Emperor put them through.

"Our world was destroying itself, it couldn't support the sheer number of the spirits. The Jade Emperor did what had to be done." Riegin continued, still present was his apparent sadness over the event. "Our year corresponds to the place we achieved in the race. So for example, Leiru came first in the race."

"How did that happen? No offence intended, Leiru, but comparing you to others like Wiin, it seems unlikely that you would win." Naruto's mind suddenly clicked, looking towards Yirrow and Riegin in particular. "Actually, Riegin, you're the strongest Shēngxiào, how did you end up in fifth place? And Yirrow, with that Speed Forme you have, how on Earthland did you finish in Eleventh!?"

"As the Great Race was happening, your world was suffering from a terrible drought, I stopped and used my magic to bring rain back to the world I ended up losing a few places and finished in fifth." Riegin answered truthfully and quickly.

But when Naruto looked at Yirrow, the large Dog Spirit had an awkward faint blush of embarrassment on his face, something Naruto had never seen before. "I was more laid back and carefree at that time, I was young afterall…" He cryptically avoided actually answering the question.

"Yirrow decided it would be better to waste time playing in the River of Stars rather than actually competing to win!" Leiru laughed out loudly to the great Dog's embarrassment.

Naruto looked to the spirit in humoured surprise. "Wow, I would have loved to have seen that side of you, Yirrow."

Yirrow responded with a small smile at Naruto's attitude. "Nearly losing my existence because of my attitude towards things going on around me changed my perception on reality…"

"And where does Spedisie fit into this?" Naruto asked with great confusion, as the newly revealed spirit hadn't been mentioned yet.

"Spedisie was competing as well obviously." Treinatien spoke now towards the blonde. "Yet he came in thirteenth place, he did cross the finish line, but behind the Shēngxiào, he should have been erased from existence, yet somehow, he has survived…"

"So he's pissed because he lost? That doesn't seem very fair to you all, you all placed with your own abilities. Shouldn't he be happy that he's still alive." Naruto pointed out innocently, the obvious fact to him. But then something clicked in his mind again. "It explains why he hates you, but not why Leiru seemed to be the only one out of you who was scared of him?"

The other spirits looked at the smaller Rat Spirit, who shuffled uncomfortably on the spot. "He hates Spedisie would have won the Great Race, hadn't Leiru cheated him out of victory at the very last minute…" Wiin spoke with almost shame and anger towards the Rat Spirit.

Even Naruto looked at Leiru with a new found disgust. Leiru only shrugged his shoulders, smirking mischievously. "I Rule, kid… Always." He answered confessing to the crime. "Speed and Strength won't always be enough to win. Sometimes Cunning and Intelligence are just as powerful as a fist or a kick, in fact they are usually the better weapons. Spedisie was the only one as Cunning and as Intelligent as me, plus he was leagues above me in all other aspects. I was scared of him even then. It was his idea to use the Ox Spirit to reach the finish line quicker, and right near the end, I pushed him off. He banged his head and lost consciousness, when he awoke, all the twelve Shēngxiào had crossed the finish line."

"We don't know how he survived, and for a time we didn't even know that he had." Riegin continued, taking over from Leiru. "400 years ago he suddenly appeared once again before us."

"This is my fault…" Riegin spoke with a saddened face to the blonde's surprise. "I am the leader of the Shengxiao, and by still existing, Spedisie is one of us. The Jade Emperor charged me with caring for all the others before transcending to the Above. I should have helped him…"

"Riegin…" Naruto couldn't find the words to describe this, he had never seen the Dragon Spirit so… emotional, so vulnerable to his own flaws.

"Spedisie is most likely targeting you out of anger and spite towards us. We abandoned him, our kin. I abandoned him. I failed Spedisie, just as I failed the Jade Emperor…" Riegin's words brought a deep, solemn silence to the group.

"So what does this have to do with me?" Naruto asked curiously after a few moments of silence and listening to their story.

"Spedisie blocked most of his mind from me, but he let me see two crucial parts about his plan." Elife spoke now to the blond. "He is creating his own Zodiac for some reason, he has been creating it out of powerful mages from your world. That body he appeared before you in, he was a member of his Zodiac. And he wants you to play a pivotal role in it. The role he deems as the most important; the Thirteenth member."

Naruto's eyes widened with horror once again, this was what Spedisie was after. To capture him for some unknown reason. "I need to deal with this right away, I need to face Spedisie face to face!"

"No Naruto!" Wiin interjected. "We can't let you walk blindly towards him and his trap!"

"Then what am I supposed to do! Just sit and wait for him to come get me!" Naruto's body rocketed up from the couch to stand up. "He can't carry on stealing Mages! I can't let him continue!" He spoke angrily, gritting his teeth together to avoiding shouting at his Spirits further. "Even if I don't know what he is planning with this 'Fake Zodiac' of his, I can't let him continue…"

"But what if there was a way we could learn?" Naruto's head shot up towards Riegin, who had asked the question. "Would you be able to wait for the answer?"

"How can we find out though if Spedisie is able to block Elife out from reading his mind?" Naruto asked with much speculation to what the Dragon Spirit was saying.

"We would need to not read Spedisie's mind, but his future…" Riegin smirked with a new found confidence.

Naruto looked towards Elife with confusion. "I thought you could see the future?"

The Snake Spirit shook her head gently. "I can only make assumptions by feeling the deepest parts of their personality, my premonitions are from knowing the person to the deepest extent. Like your friend, Alzack. His love for that green haired girl caused him to hurt his friends, yet I didn't know how he would. I only knew that he would."

"So how are we gonna to read Spedisie's future if Elife can't?" Naruto asked his spirits with even more confusion now that they were all smiling confidently.

"There is one who can." Riegin answered for all of them. "This is the first and will be last time this will happen in the history of the Shēngxiào, Naruto, but I see no other alternative to find Spedisie's true motives."

_**We will tell you the location of the Rabbit Spirit, Teaterri!**_

* * *

><p>"How lucky are we that we were able to pass off the Fighting Festival as preparations for the Fantasia Parade!"<p>

"But the Mayor said we weren't allowed to do it for the festival anyways!"

The Fairy Tail guild was erupting in a party, one well deserved after what had occurred between them, re-stitching together the torn bonds of friendship between them after being pitted against one another.

However one was not participating in the party. Naruto sat at a table, without alcohol or company. His mind going through what he had been told last night.

'_Teaterri lies where the borders of Seven, Bosco and Iceberg meet, deep with the Snowy Forest.'_

'_So I have to go all the way out there…'_ Naruto knew the distance was large, even with his teleportation he could be gone for days, his destination was practically across two countries.

"Naruto!" A hand came quickly down on his shoulder, snapping him out of a trance, many members stood around him all beaming wildly at him. "Join the party Naruto! I'd ask if you were two good for our parties now that you're in the Raijinshuu, but…" Alzack spoke with a smile, looking across the guild hall.

Bixlow danced around, completely intoxicated and laughing manically to himself. Evergreen was with him, but was in much better control of herself, all drinking small sips at a time.

"Yeah Naruto, it is a party after all." Lucy smiled towards him. "You deserve this more than anyone after your last job."

Naruto looked around, he had explained fully to the guild what had happened, apologising as well to the ones that were hurt by him. He explained why he was acting like that and what he was doing for the Master, everyone seemed to understand and had forgiven him pretty easily.

"Listen up you brats!" Makarov screamed from the stage, silencing the music and everyone with it as they turned to their Guild Master. "I have an important announcement to make!" They kind of guessed that much, as he wasn't in his usual silly striped clothing but rather his Ten Wizard Saint attire. "Naruto! Come up here!"

Naruto looked to the Master in surprise, he had no idea what Makarov was doing, and he remembered Makarov telling him he had took things too far in the Fighting Festival. Was he to be excommunicated as Laxus was days prior?

"Naruto…" Makarov spoke as Naruto reached the top of the stage, standing next to the aged man. "What you did for me, for the guild… I promised that you would be rewarded. And I have stuck to my promise."

He went into his jacket pocket, pulling out a small white card, instead of having red lines going around the border, they were golden, with a golden 'S' in each corner. "As of now, Naruto Namikaze stands as one of Fairy Tail's S-Class Mages!"

All of Fairy Tail looked with awe-inspired surprise towards the blonde, who similarly looked just as stunned. "H-Hold on! I don't deserve that, there are others who have been here longer than me who deserve it!"

"That is exactly why you deserve it!" Makarov responded with a large grin. "Unyielding loyalty, incredible determination and conviction, not to mention unfathomable power, these are all the qualities of an S-Class Mage. You haven't been at the guild longer than 3 months, yet you've shown unquestionable loyalty to the guild. And to me, I asked a horrible task from you, yet you performed without hesitation for the good of the guild. You have shown strength, courage and loyalty, but above all you have shown a trait few others possess, to leave your friends, in order to protect them. To keep away from the ones you love takes the highest amount of bravery, and you performed superbly!"

"Take it, Naruto!"

"You deserve it!"

He began to hear his guild mates cheer for him, he grinned sheepishly as he reached for the card. When his fingers touched the paper the guild erupted in even more cheering and applause.

"That mean's too of the Raijinshuu are S-Class Mages! Making us the strongest Team in Fairy Tail!" Bixlow screamed with pride about being part of the Raijinshuu.

Natsu suddenly appeared at the front of the crowd, wrapped tightly in bandages, he began shouting something with fury and passion, but the bandages over his mouth left his words incoherent.

"I'm sorry, Natsu, maybe another time." Naruto smiled down at the pink haired mage. "It doesn't matter how badly you want to fight me now, you're in no condition to do so."

"You can understand him as well?" Gajeel approached equally as heavily bandaged as the rosy haired Dragon Slayer.

"A lifetime in bandages has taught me how to speak 'Mumblish'." Naruto grinned towards Gajeel who grinned back.

Natsu began mumbling something incoherently once again, even louder than before as he looked and glared at every Fairy Tail mage. Gajeel sighed heavily, "'Let's make the Battle of Fairy Tail an annual thing, there was no winner so we don't know who won the title of the Strongest Mage in Fairy Tail', he says."

"Uh… Natsu… There was a winner." Naruto pointed out, the entire guild gasped in unison, somehow silencing at the same time to hear what the blonde had spoken. "Yeah, technically someone DID win the Fighting Festival." He continued, before looking to Natsu and Gajeel. "Natsu and Gajeel both went out on contention with Laxus after their fight. Levy, Mystogan and Mirajane all gave up their right to win by forfeiting. Fried, Bixlow, myself and Evergreen were all knocked out of contention by others along with loads of other people, and Erza along with the people who were still in contention all went out when the Hall of Thunder was destroyed." Naruto broke the results down, looking at each person when they were named. "I had access to Fried's Runes matchboard and database, and at the end of the tournament, when Laxus went down with Gajeel and Natsu, one person was still in contention for the title of the Strongest Mage in Fairy Tail, therefore, they were the winner."

"And who was that?" The guild asked in unison after listening to the blonde explain.

Naruto smiled, before turning, his eyes went through the crowd to lock onto a pair of familiar, large brown eyes. "Lucy… Lucy was the last mage standing, the only one to not go out of contention for the title. Technically, Lucy is now officially the Strongest Mage in Fairy Tail."

"WHAAAAAATTTTTTT!?"

"WWWWHHHHHHHHAAAAAAAAAATTTTTT TTTT!?" The guild joined in with Lucy scream of disbelief and shock at Naruto's declaration of the winning mage.

"It's true." Everyone turned to Fried, who had just arrived with a short spiky haircut. "I checked it over myself, the last person still in the game, who never lost or broke the rules, was Lucy."

"She was the only one to survive the entire game, not to mention she took down two of the Raijinshuu, the only person to do so." Naruto grinned towards her.

"But you threw that fight!" She pointed back at him, still in disbelief. Natsu suddenly jumped in front of her, pointing at her and yelling something else incoherently behind his bandage mask.

"'Lucy, fight me now! The Strongest Mage in Fairy Tail isn't allowed to back down to a fight!', he says." Naruto could only laugh along with the rest of the guild as the blonde girl was chased around the Guild Hall by a rosy haired mummy. "But about the Fighting Festival…" Naruto uttered out again, regaining everyone's attention. "I want to apologise for what I did to you during it, I took things way too far out of proportion and hurt a lot of you…"

"It's fine, Naruto!" Alzack grinned as he spoke for those Naruto had fought during the event. Before his mind began tracing back to their fight. "Come to think of it, you knocked me out so quickly I didn't really feel a thing…" Others who went against Naruto nodded to what Alzack said, Naruto ahd beaten them all as quick as possible they didn't actually feel any pain.

"It's not fine!" Naruto responded loudly, dropping to his knees in front of all of them, bowing his head to the guild. "I won't be able to forgive myself for it! There must be something I can do to repay what I did!?"

"Well… there is something…" Makarov spoke aloud, gaining the blonde's attention.

"Anything, please!" Naruto was practically begging him to let him make up for what he did.

Makarov laughed evilly, rubbing his hands together as he grinned a sinister grin. "Excellent…"

* * *

><p>STEP RIGHT UP!<p>

STEP RIGHT UP!

FOR ONLY 20J YOU WILL HAVE THE CHANCE TO THROW A PIE IN THE FACE OF THIS YEAR'S 'MOST TALKED ABOUT MAGE'!

* * *

><p>A man with short spiky moss green hair slicked back clutched his stomach as he fell to the floor, his left eye was scarred and closed, whilst the other glared directly ahead of him. He wore a wears, open dark-green coat with no shirt underneath, closed on his waist by a red sash, in which his three sword sheaths were tucked into, with a black bandanna tied around the left sleeve. A green haramaki is visible under the coat along with a large scar across his chest diagonally.<p>

On either side of him was a katana sword which he had let go of, a third was still present held between his teeth horizontally. "Who the hell are you? And why have you attacked me all of a sudden!?" Despite the obstruction in his mouth he still spoke clearly in a fury filled tone.

"Roranoa Zoro…" The person giggled out like a mischievous child, his odd blue and yellow eyes piercing through to his soul. "My name is Spedisie, and I want you to become my tenth.." He giggled darkly to himself some more. "The after you and two others… It's just Naruto…"

* * *

><p><strong>AN:** Yo! Rinne here! So the fighting festival officially comes to a close now! A pretty slow chapter I'll admit, but I never planned action in this chapter it was always going to be just explanations.

The Shengxiao's history has been revealed, it is based on the actual story behind how it was created, yet made more relevant to suit Spedisie, who once again will become central over the next few chapters.

Naruto's promotion? Like it or not. It's happened. Makarov deemed it worthy for him to not even take the S-Class Promotion Exam, Naruto will still be participating in the next exam yet as an Examiner, not a participant.

The next Chapters will not be the Oracion Seis Arc, they will continue with Naruto doing his own thing, preparing for his final confrontation with Spedisie. I like to call this the Fake Zodiac Arc, and that's what I will do!

THINGS TO LOOK FORWARD TO IN THE FAKE ZODIAC ARC!:

The Rabbit Spirit, Teaterri (name pronounced TEE-AH-TERRI)

NarutoXLucy fluffiness!

Lucy finding out how deep her connection with Naruto is!

The Ultimate battle between Spedisie and Naruto!

And an Old Friend of Naruto's returning back into his life! The only clue I shall give is that his friend is also from the Naruto universe!

Until Next Time,

Rinne-Kami, Out!


	18. The Past, The Truth, And

Naruto stood at the bar in Fairy Tail looking across at the frivolity in the guild, very little had changed now that he had become a S-Class Member, in fact, he had appeared to receive even more attention than he did before.

And he didn't know how to respond to it, a part of him welcomed the extra attention, it felt good that people noticed and respected him. However, on the other side he was always one to keep his head down, he travelled for so long no one knew him long enough to gain such admiration, truthfully... it kind of scared him.

"Hey, Naruto!" His eyes darted to the left, Alzack, Jet and Droy were all approaching him at the same time, all of them with large smiles on their faces, the blonde returned the smile, but not as large or as acknowledging. "Are you still mad about the pie throwing contest in Fantasia? You agreed to it!"

"Yeah but I didn't think you would take thirty six turns... _**each**_..." He looked over to them with a dark, grumpy expression, recalling how each of them had approached the stand with a burlap sack full of Jewels to spend.

Yet he couldn't maintain the look, his face slowly released a smile before building into laughter with the other three guys, even in a guild filled with laughter, it was theirs which they could only hear.

"Hey," Jet spoke as his laughter begin to cease, staring out into the guild. "There's Levy, and she's with Bisca and Lucy."

The four guys looked over to the table, sure enough, blue, green and blonde hair all sat round a smaller table, talking amongst themselves. "They have grown rather close after participating in the parade together." Droy noted aloud.

"Alzack, have you made any progress on telling Bisca how you feel?" Naruto asked nonchalantly to Alzack's horrified embarrassment. Naruto shrugged his shoulders impassively at his reaction. "It's not like everyone doesn't know, just like how everyone knows Jet and Droy both like Levy."

Alzack stammered on the spot, a red flush enveloping his face. "N-no, I haven't…"

Naruto only chuckled at the humour of the situation. "You're able to battle monsters and bandits, even other mages fearlessly, but you can't tell a girl how you feel?"

"That's easy for you to say, Naruto, you've already got a girlfriend!" Jet and Droy both barked back in unison towards the blonde.

"What?" Naruto looked at them both with a deep, confused expression. "I don't have a girlfriend, who told you that?"

"Levy." Jet replied honestly. "When we first met she told us that you were Lucy's boyfriend."

"And the rumour going around the Guild is that you and Lucy are dating." Alzack then added after Jet's statement.

"T-That isn't true!" Naruto loudly stammered out himself, blushing madly. "Me and Lucy aren't boyfriend and girlfriend!" He denied the claimed with fierce embarrassment, yet when he cooled down he showed a side of sadness. "Truth be told, I'm just like Alzack, I haven't mustered up the courage to ask…"

"Oh! So the newest S-Class Mage of Fairy Tail is scared of something after all!" Droy laughed out loudly in a mocking tone towards the blonde. Alzack and Jet both broke into laughter as well soon afterwards.

Naruto's eyes squinted with annoyance as he looked towards the three of them. "I'm not scared!" He responded, before an evil glint appeared in his eye. "To prove it, I'll make you a deal. I'll ask Lucy out if you three also ask you're respected crushes out as well."

Their laughter died down, and only Alzack appeared fearful of the proposed deal. "Deal!" Jet and Droy chimed together, causing Naruto to grin madly.

"Excellent, you best get ready to ask then." He grinned as he immediately began to leave the group, heading in the direction to where Lucy and the other two girls were sat to Jet, Droy and Alzack's horror.

* * *

><p>"The Parade was so good! Did you see how much money we raised?" Lucy asked with a content sigh, reminiscing on the past few days with Levy and Bisca.<p>

"I think we have Naruto to thank for that." Levy said with a hint of guilt in her voice. "I feel bad for him after seeing how many times all the guys took turns throwing pies at him."

"Naruto's a good guy, he didn't really seem bothered by it, plus he did agree to do it." Bisca retorted, remembering her turns throwing a pie at Naruto, she had created a new bullet just for that occasion: _**Lock-On Pie Shot**_.

"You looked like you were having fun with Alzack, Bisca." Levy grinned cheekily at the green haired girl to her embarrassment. "So are you two finally boyfriend and girlfriend yet?"

"N-No! We're just friends!" Bisca shot back with a red flush on her cheeks, before her eyes saddened. "At least, that's what he wants. I'm almost ready to give up on him asking me soon."

"Well why don't you ask him?" Levy responded with a curious expression.

"We've been friends for so long, we came from the west to Fairy Tail together. If he doesn't feel the same, I'll ruin our friendship…" Bisca replied saddened and heartbroken, before her eyes darted to Levy. "What about you? You've got Jet and Droy all over you, how you picked one of them yet?"

"No, to be honest I don't really see anyone in that way yet…" Levy replied quietly, yet Lucy and Bisca both watched as her eyes followed a certain long black haired mage as he walked past to argue with Natsu about something.

Levy sighed heavily. "It's so easy for you Lu-chan, seeing as you've already got the perfect boyfriend. Did you see how Naruto jumped to your aid against Zabrock and Gajeel."

"What!?" Lucy's eyes widened as she shouted in shock. "Naruto and I aren't boyfriend and girlfriend!"

"Really?" Bisca asked somewhat surprised. "I always thought you two were?"

"No, we're not." Lucy reaffirmed them, before looking over to where Naruto stood with Jet, Droy and Alzack, all seemingly huddled in a conversation meant for only themselves. "Sure he's strong, brave, funny, cute and good looking, but…"

"A conversation about love?" A new voice spoke, Juvia stood next to them, before sitting down next to Lucy. "May Juvia also partake in this discussion?" It wasn't really a question, as she had already joined in, her eyes darted over to Lucy and shot her a hidden glare. _'Strong, brave, funny, cute and good looking. She must be talking about my Gray-sama! Finally Juvia will know about your feelings towards Gray-sama, my rival in love!'_

"You like Natsu? Or is it Loki?" Levy continued Lucy's sentence cheekily with a small giggle.

"No, it's not that. It's just really complicated." Lucy responded with a sigh. "He's so open to everyone, but at the same time so distant. He and I are very close, but I know nothing about his life, and when I've tried to ask he's changed the subject without me even realising."

"I KNEW IT!" Juvia shouted with an enraged fury. Pointing a dagger of a finger towards the blond girl. "YOU SEEK GRAY-SAMA'S HEART FOR YOUR OWN, WELL YOU'RE LOVE WILL NEVER TRIUMPH IN THE FACE OF JUVIA!"

"Don't comment on things when you haven't heard the first part of the topic." Bisca spoke in an amused fashion at the blue haired water mage.

"Looks like you might get your chance to find out Lu-chan." Levy spoke with a wink and a smile, nodding her head to the direction Naruto was.

Lucy turned, seeing the blonde boy the spoke of coming towards her with a large, triumphant grin plastered across his face. "Hey Lucy." He spoke as he neared her. "It's been a while since we last hung out, do you want to do something tonight?"

Lucy blushed heavily, stammering out what appeared to be an answer, before Levy jumped in between the two of them. "Lu-chan would love too, Naru-kun!" She grinned madly at the blonde mage, who blinked at her response, before a grin appeared on his own face.

"Great! I'll meet you at your apartment later, Lucy!" He grinned at the flustered blond girl before walking away and out of the guild.

Lucy could only send Levy a heated glare, and the blue haired girl could only chuckle mischievously in return.

* * *

><p>"You look so cute in that, Lu-chan!" Levy squealed in delight as she looked at her sister-like blonde friend. Lucy wore a pale white, tight white dress, frilly at the seams and rising up , being shorter over her left leg, with a leopard print scarf wrapped around her neck.<p>

"Are you sure I'm not overdressed? I mean, he never said it was a date." Lucy responded with worry, she had been trying on outfits all day since Naruto pretty much asked her out, she wanted simple and elegant, but everything suggested seemed cheap or overdressed. Cowgirl outfit by Bisca, 6 layers to 'mask her love', by that she assumed her figure from Juvia, it seemed only Levy had decent suggestions.

"Of course not." She turned to Erza, who smiled at her. "We must always look our very best, for we are strong, as is our love."

"That made no sense…" Lucy sighed heavily. "What are you doing here anyway? How did you know what we were doing?"

"I wouldn't miss a chance to bond with the other female members of Fairy Tail." Erza clenched her fist passionately. "Through love and fashion, our bonds grow stronger!"

"What is it with you and love recently?..." Lucy sighed heavily again, already she was drained from all their antics.

"Besides," Erza coughed quietly. "I have yet to meet Naruto, the newest S-Class Mage. He's been away on jobs every time I've been at the guild, and vice versa as well. Even when Fantasia commenced, I never had any interaction with him, but I saw what he accomplished. It was impressive to say the least, to have gained even Laxus' attention in such a short time."

"Mystogan's attention as well." Lucy proclaimed to the surprise of the other girls. "Naruto told me that Mystogan is always speaking to Naruto quite leisurely, Naruto says Mystogan acts like he's known him for years. I always thought Mystogan was a recluse."

"Wow! He even gained Mystogan's attention! Naru-kun really is amazing!" Levy said in disbelief, thinking of the smiling blonde mage. "I wonder what that old geezer will think of Naruto."

"Is he really that great a person?" Erza asked inquisitively, for the time she spent with them, they spoke like Naruto was a gift sent from heaven.

"He's a really nice guy, always smiling." Levy smiled happily.

"He's very loyal to his friends and the guild as well. Alzack can't stop talking about him." Bisca added with a faint smile on to the blue haired girl's answer.

"And he's very powerful." Juvia commented afterwards. "Juvia has never met Naruto-san, but I saw what he did to Zabrock-kun, Juvia has only known of Gajeel-kun to be able to best Zabrock-kun. So Naruto-san must be a powerful mage to do so."

Erza smiled, laughing to herself. "You're very lucky then, Lucy." She looked towards the dressed up blonde with a soft smile. "To have someone like him."

* * *

><p>"So how did you get on?" He asked Jet, Droy and Alzack as he prepared for the evening in his apartment. He wore a different attire than usual, now he wore an orange Yukata with long sleeves, with black cloth around his midsection and another Orange rope to bind it together, he remained shirtless underneath, on his feet were simple black sandals.<p>

"We were both rejected." Jet and Droy both grinned with humour at their misfortune, they had heard it a thousand times before.

Alzack however seemed to shrink away, looking down in embarrassment at the floor. "I-I couldn't do it…" He eventually stammered out in a downhearted whisper. "Bisca and I, we've been friends for so long. I just can't ruin it."

"I understand." Naruto replied, yet kept a solid look on his face. "But think about this. What if she finds someone else? Imagine how horrible you will feel then. You've got less to lose acting than you do sitting and watching."

Alzack looked up in shock, his face seemingly to repeat the words through his body. "I have to go now." Naruto commented, looking at all of them, a small smile grew on his face. "Things will look up for you if you remember to cherish all those that you love." With that he had vanished in a yellow blur.

* * *

><p>Naruto landed directly outside Lucy's apartment, adjusting his clothes before knocking on the door. He could hear rustling and giggling from the other side when the door swung open, revealing a red haired girl he had never met before. "You must be Erza Scarlet." He grinned wide towards her.<p>

"So you're Naruto Namikaze." Erza replied with a smile towards the blonde. "I've heard a lot about you."

"As I you," Naruto grinned larger in return. "It's good that your last name is the same colour as your hair, I won't forget it that way!" He laughed loudly at his own little joke.

Erza gasped in utter shock, her hand covering her mouth as she stared wide eyed at Naruto. That smile, those words. Flashes of a blue haired boy with green eyes and a red tattoo over his eye ran through her mind. _'He's just like him, from back then…'_

"Excuse me." Erza spoke quietly before walking away from the blonde, leaving him utterly confused.

"Was it something I said?" He asked himself curiously, before entering the apartment, greeting and being greeted by all the girls in the room.

Then he saw Lucy, and it took every ounce of his willpower not to let his jaw crash through the floor. Beauty did not describe what stood in front of him. "Well, the good thing is I don't feel like I've overdressed." He smiled weakly towards her.

"I was worrying about the same thing." Lucy blushed from the stare he gave her, she herself smiling weakly from embarrassment.

"Well, seeing as we're both ready. Shall we go?" Naruto asked with his usual large grin.

"Sure." Lucy returned the smile, heading towards the door, before noticing that Naruto wasn't following her. "I thought we were going?"

She blushed fiercely when Naruto's arm shot around her waist; he smiled down at her, being a good half a head taller than her. "I figured we'd travel in style." With that the two of them suddenly disappeared, leaving the remaining girls in Lucy's apartment.

"Wow…" Lucy could only exclaim when they landed, so that was how it felt to teleport. A variety of vivid colours erupted in her senses. It was like the world spun around even faster just for her. "Is that what it's like every time you teleport."

"You never get used to the feeling." Naruto commented with a smile. "Now I've been planning this all day, so I hope you like it!" He grinned, spinning her around quickly.

Her mouth hung loosely as she stared at their location, they stood atop a large hill overlooking Magnolia and its forest. The sun dimming to a lush orange as it sank behind the horizon. A picnic site stood near them, a variety of handmade sandwiches and other snacks lay in a basket, next to a small bottle of wine. "It's beautiful…"

Naruto exhaled in relief, scratching the back of his head as he chuckled as he moved towards the picnic blanket, sitting down on it.

"So am I finally gonna learn something about you tonight?" She giggled jokingly as she sat next to him, leaning against his shoulder.

"What do you mean? You know lots about me." Naruto replied in total confusion, looking at the girl with his lower lip jutting out.

"In all honesty, despite knowing you for a while, I don't know anything about you. Sure you're magic and some of your travel stories I know. But what about further back?" She asked again.

"Really? I'm sure I told you about it before…" Naruto scratched his chin as he tried thinking back on their old conversations.

"Why are you trying to dodge the question?" She asked almost sternly, yet slightly angrily, before her face saddened deeply. "What are you trying to hide from everyone so badly? Back during Laxus' Fighting Festival. The way you acted, it was very convincing. So how much of that was really just an act? Who is hiding behind the big, dumb, cute grin?"

"That wasn't me. But it could have been." She could see the honesty in his eyes as he looked out towards the sunset. "Had things gone a bit different, that could have been me. Some worse than how Laxus pretends to be, no attachments, no cares, nothing."

"Laxus? He was pretending to act like a total jerk!?" She laughed with speculation at Naruto's proclamation.

"Yeah. He acted like a total ass, but he's really not." Naruto replied with a smile. "If anything, he's just like Natsu. He may not go about it in the prettiest of ways, but the guilds best interests were in Laxus' heart. I didn't lie in that interview, Laxus IS ready to become guild master, he's strong, dependable and has all the qualities of a leader. I respect him a lot. He's like the big brother I never had."

'_How sad…'_ Lucy thought sadly, how Naruto felt about who he could have been, his attachment to Laxus. It seemed that Naruto had nothing for such a long time, maybe that was why he was able to make so easily, because he knew the pain of lacking any sort. But she smiled happily nonetheless. "Thanks for opening up to me."

"Anything else you wanna know?" Naruto asked with a lazily raised eyebrow as his eyes shifted towards her.

"What about your parents, where are they?" She asked, hoping that she hadn't just delved into a sensitive spot for the blonde boy.

Luckily though, Naruto shrugged his shoulder almost carelessly. "I never knew them. I've never had any contact with them, I don't know if their even alive. I grew up in an Orphanage for Young Developing Mages until I was old enough to travel, after that I was working until I began travelling constantly as a roaming mage." He replied half honestly, that wasn't technically how it went.

Lucy felt saddened once again, she had thought she had problems with her family, yet Naruto even knew the concept of one. It made her think of one particular person, his unloving eyes, his cold stare. 'I wonder how my Father is doing?...'

* * *

><p>"Be careful, Lucy." Naruto spoke worried as he watched the blond girl walk in front of him leisurely on the wall on the bank of the river. "Why do you walk on that anyways?"<p>

Lucy looked a little confused, until she looked down. "Oh, I never really notice I am!" She grinned sheepishly. "I guess when I'm thinking about something, or when I'm happy I just instinctively do it."

Naruto nodded his head as he looked towards her, truth be told he didn't understand a single word of that, but he wasn't about to tell her that.

He felt a small bump hit him from the front. Looking down he saw a little girl, tears forming in her eyes. In her hand was an ice cream cone, the topping lay on the floor.

"Oh, I'm sorry." Naruto crouched down to reach the girl's eye level. "I didn't see you there; let me make it up to you. I'll buy you a new ice cream, with two scoops!"

"Two scoops!" The little girl's eyes lit up at the prospect, nodded her head wildly, Naruto grinned in return.

"Show me where the ice cream store is." He smiled, letting the girl lead the way.

Lucy had continued walking, though she noticed the sudden silence between the two of them. "What are you thinking about, Naruto?" She turned to ask him, a bead of sweat dropped from her head when she realised he had disappeared, and she had no idea where he had gone.

"You've grown a little bit, Lucy." She looked back in front of her, shocked when she saw her father, rough and ragged, with a gangly long beard and dirty clothes standing in front of her.

"Father! What are you doing here!?" She screamed at him angrily, anger from the job he paid Phantom Lord to do, to kidnap her and return her home.

The man looked down sadly. "I've lost everything, Lucy. The house, my money. The Heartfilia Konzern is gone. That's why I'm here, I need a favour."

"Lucy! There you are!" She felt relieved when she heard Naruto behind her. "I thought you had noticed what happened, so I assumed you came with us!" He grinned cheerfully, however that soon disappeared and morphed into a serious expression when he laid eyes on the man in front of him.

"Street rat! What are you doing here?" Lucy's father proclaimed in utter shock when he saw the blond mage standing next to his daughter.

'_Street rat?'_ Lucy quizzed with confusion to herself, looking at the heated stare Naruto shot at her father, and her father's utter surprised look back towards him.

"Master Judo." Naruto replied bluntly, not masking the venom in his voice as his gaze hardened even further into anger at the newest insult.

'_Master… Judo!?_' Lucy became shocked herself. She had never mentioned her father's name to Naruto before, yet he knew it. And referred to him as 'Master'.

"I saved your life once before Kitchen Boy! I gave you food, shelter! Now is the time for you to return that favour! I need money to restart my business, and you will give me it!" Judo instantly demanded off the blond.

"You don't scare me anymore. You're no longer the all-powerful monster I perceived you as. I've surpassed you in every way." Naruto smirked back almost viciously towards the weak and frail man. "I owe you nothing, Master Judo."

"I owe everything too…"

_A young Naruto sat on the street, dirty, his hair filled with specs of dust and dirt, his clothes stained and crusted with mud. Tears washed away two streaks of dirt on his face._

_No one would pay attention to him though. He wasn't worth anything to anyone to be considered as such. He had run so far away from the Orphanage, but now he had no idea where he was, he was lost in an unfamiliar country, weak, broken and hungry. He wouldn't survive; he knew that all too well._

"_Hey, real men don't cry." He heard a voice speak, he looked upwards. Who stood in front of him was nothing but beautiful. She was a young woman with soft brown eyes along with long blonde hair worn in a bun type style. She was dressed in an elegant pink flowing princess, suitable for a princess. "Real men stand tall, and let their actions do the talking! Especially the ones as cute as you!"_

"_Leave him alone. He's a street rat, worth nothing." He saw a man behind her, his body blocking the sun, leaving his face in shadow. But his voice made the young Naruto tremble in fear._

"_It wasn't so long ago that we were no different, Judo." She replied to him with a small humble giggle before looking back to Naruto. "Besides, I can't leave him. It would be cruel, he can't be any older than Lucy after all. Come, I'll show you a good home, filled with love and happiness." _

_The man sighed in annoyance. "You and your compassion," He spoke with mild disdain. "Fine. But he'll be put to work in the kitchen, I won't have a slacker loitering around my home."_

_She smiled even brighter, extending her hand towards to the young blonde. "My name is-"_

"Lady Layla!"

Naruto's gaze hardened against the ragged man, glaring intently. "She showed me everything that I could become! The man who stands before you now was built because of her!"

Lucy's eyes widened beyond disbelief, why had Naruto never told her this. He knew both of her parents, he knew her father's cruel heartlessness, and her mother's priceless kindness. Tears began welling in her eyes at the revelation.

"But I know Lady Layla's heart. She would never want you to suffer." Naruto proclaimed, stepping forward towards Judo, rustling in a pocket he pulled out a small bundle of Jewels. Taking Judo's hand and thrust the money into it. "Take this to go wherever it is you want, but on the condition that you never come near Lucy again!"

Lucy couldn't take anymore, she began to run away. Naruto cursed as he watched her run, taking off after her. "Lucy, wait!"

* * *

><p>"Lucy, wait!" Naruto ran after the blond girl who stormed away, as he caught up and touched her shoulder she spun quickly slapping his hand away. She was furious, yet tears were strewn down her cheeks.<p>

"What was that about!?" She yelled at him, demanding an answer for what had occurred in front of her.

Naruto looked dejected, like he didn't want to answer, yet he could see the pain on her face as clear as crystal. He sighed heavily. "I- I used to work for your family. When I was a child and I left the Orphanage, I ended up working in your kitchen at your manor. We never really had any contact."

"Then what about my Mom!? Why is she so important to you!?" Lucy yelled back still as angry as before.

"Your mother, Lady Layla. I owe everything to her." Naruto repeated his earlier statement, a small smile grew on his face as he stepped away from the girl, looking at the ground as memories consumed him. Memories of Lady Layla's warming, loving and gentle smile. "I was nothing. I was nobody. Lady Layla taught me otherwise, she showed me I could be of worth to someone. I could have gone down a very dark road, I could have ended up like the person your saw during Laxus' Fighting Festival. But _she_ saved me!" A small smile formed on his face as he looked up towards her. "You're so much like her, Lucy. More than you know."

Lucy's eyes widened with shock at what Naruto said to her. "She cared for me when she didn't even have to, when no one else did. That feeling of worth, of importance to someone. It's a debt I owe to Lady Layla, one I continue to pay off to this day, yet I will never clear it."

The tears stopped in Lucy's eyes as she stared into Naruto's own blue eyes. She could see the sparkling glimmer of tears beginning to well up in his own eyes. "When she passed away I made her a promise, one I didn't know I could accomplish, I had to leave your house after she passed away, then you disappeared as well. Then you found me, and I knew I could keep my promise to Lady Layla."

"What did you promise her?" She could feel her heart almost pounding, why couldn't she stay angry at him. Was it because of all the things he was saying about her mother, the one she idolized above all others?

_I WILL ALWAYS TAKE CARE OF YOU, I WILL ALWAYS PROTECT YOU, I WILL ALWAYS LOVE YOU_

Lucy's eyes widened to their maximum, memories of her younger self walking through her manor, talking to the staff. Seeing a small blond boy, carrying pots larger than him. That same beaming smile then that had matured to what now stood in front of her.

Her arms trembled as she wrapped them around him, her body followed as his arms wrapped around her. A smile grew on her face as he head nestled into his shoulder. "It's funny…" She whispered so quietly to him. "My mom saved you from that pain and loneliness, and _you_ saved _me_ from it as well. If it wasn't for you, I'd feel worthless, like I wasn't important."

Her head moved upwards to gaze into his deep blue eyes. "You're everything I aspire to be, you're everything I want, you're everything that I desire to have stand by my side forever."

She leaned her face towards his, and he returned. And it happened. A magic so simple, so basic, yet more powerful than any other spell imaginable. A kiss, the power to bind two people together in something so small and almost insignificant.

"How adorable." A voice snapped them out of what had felt like frozen time. A boy stood leaning against a wall. His jaded, blank teal eyes accented by black rings. He had crimson red hair, slightly longer than Naruto's yet more wavy. He wore a red jumpsuit of sorts, with baggier red pants leading into brown boots that went halfway up to his knee. The shirt was tighter and only went down to his midriff, leaving his abs exposed. The left sleeve was missing, and his left arm was instead wrapped in bandages. The right sleeve was looser than the rest of the shirt, hanging over his right arm almost lazily. On the left side of his forehead was the symbol for love, tattooed in red into his skin.

"Gaara! It's been a long time!" Naruto spoke almost ecstatically at seeing the boy, the boy, Gaara offered a faint smile in return as he approached the two blonde.

"How do you know him, Naruto?" Lucy asked quite confused, from Naruto's tone and the look in his eyes, it was as if he knew Gaara longer than he knew her.

"Gaara's my best friend, we used to travel around together until we went our different ways. I never expected you to come to somewhere like Fiore though!" Naruto spoke to the both of them, redirecting the last part of his sentence towards the red haired boy.

"We have a lot to catch up on, besides, there's something I need to talk to you about." Lucy was beginning to notice the total lack of emotion in his voice, even after reuniting with an old friend, he barely seemed touched at the situation, as if he was bottling every feeling up. Gaara looked more directly at her. "If that's not a problem?"

"Uhh… it's fine." She looked towards Naruto and smiled wider. "Really, talk with your friend. I can go home and scrape my rent money together." She laughed loudly at her own self-pity.

"Whatever you have to say to me, you can say in front of Lucy. I trust her completely." Naruto looked at the redhead, who nodded in return. "Come on, we'll go back to my house and talk there."

* * *

><p><strong>AN:** Yo! Rinne here! I SUCK AT WRITING ROMANCE! Seriously, I can't, I think it's easier to write about topics you are familar with and have experienced. Well I've never experienced romance and love, I don't attach myself to the subject and prospect of it. So forgive me if my Romance writing is sub-par.

Saying that, that is why I've been avoiding writing this chapter, so it's finally up now. Review if you please.

Things to be addressed:

The relationship is finally sealed. Lucy fell for Naruto a while ago, but my writing skills and lack of visible interaction between them didn't get that across, I dropped a large hint in a previous chapter, the one with Naruto's interview for Sorcerer's Magazine. But now it's began. Will it be sexual? No, well not written in anyways. I want to keep the T rating, and I don't want to write smut, fluff or will be implied on occasions, such as before or after Naruto and Lucy enter funkytown. But rarely.

Mystogan's apparent connection to Naruto - Although not seen, it will start coming into play. There is a reason why Mystogan seems attached to Naruto and why Erza was reminded of Jellal, if you're smart you might be able to work it out. But that's all I'm saying.

Naruto in Oracion Seis Arc? - Nope, Naruto's on his own misadventure dealing with a more serious threat, Spedisie and his Fake Zodiac.

Gaara? What is this? - Yeap, Gaara is the old friend. He will be taking Naruto on a small job that will involve the Rabbit Disc. IF ANYONE HAS ANY IDEAS FOR A JOB FOR THE TWO OF THEM PM ME! I WROTE THIS IN CAPITALS SO IT GRASPS YOUR ATTENTION!

Anyway, that's about it. So innabit.

Rinne-Kami, Out!


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